India‘s aviation safety regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), stated on Tuesday that inspections of Air India‘s Boeing 787 fleet revealed no major safety issues, just days after a tragic crash involving one of the airline’s jets claimed at least 271 lives.
“The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards,” the DGCA said in a statement.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London with 242 people on board crashed seconds after take-off in Ahmedabad on Thursday, hitting nearby buildings. All but one passenger on board was killed, along with about 30 people on the ground.
Safety Inspection Conducted
The DGCA also said 24 of Air India’s 33 Boeing 787 aircraft had completed an “enhanced safety inspection” it had ordered the airline to carry out.
The regulator, in a meeting with senior officials of Air India, raised concerns about recent maintenance-related issues reported by the airline.
It advised the carrier to “strictly adhere to regulations”, strengthen coordination across its businesses and ensure availability of adequate spares to mitigate passenger delays, it added.
The DGCA had met senior officials of Air India and Air India Express to review their operations amid increasing flight volumes.
DGCA Seeks Training Records
The DGCA has requested Air India to provide the training records of the pilots and dispatcher involved in last week’s fatal crash that killed at least 271 people, according to government memos.
The aviation safety watchdog also asked all flying schools to conduct training compliance checks, according to confidential memos, seen by Reuters.
The DGCA said the requests were part of a “regulatory” review of the accident, and also sought details of action taken following the watchdog’s audits of Air India in the last few months. It asked for the details to be provided by Monday.
It was not clear whether Air India had complied with the directive. The airline and the DGCA did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
(With inputs from Reuters)
