Air India Cancels Dreamliner Flight Amid Technical Issues

Following the devastating crash of flight AI171 last Thursday, killing 241 people on board, Air India has cancelled its latest Dreamliner flight from Ahmedabad to London amid reported technical issues. The cancelled flight, AI159, was set to operate a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, the same type aircraft that crashed last week. This move comes as all Indian-registered Dreamliners undergo special inspections after last week's disaster. In a separate incident, a flight from San Francisco to Mumbai experienced a "technical snag" in one of its engines, resulting in passengers being offloaded during a scheduled stopover at Kolkata airport. Meanwhile, the cause of AI171's crash remains unclear, with investigators recovering two black boxes, the flight data recorders, which will contain vital clues about what went wrong.

Key Takeaways:

• Flight AI159, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was cancelled due to technical issues, affecting approximately 200 passengers.
• The cancelled flight was due to be operated on the same type of aircraft that crashed last Thursday, killing 241 people on board.
• All Indian-registered Dreamliners are undergoing special inspections after last week's crash, but neither Indian nor US aviation regulators have ordered the grounding of the 787.
• Since the crash, Air India has experienced a series of technical issues, including a flight from San Francisco to Mumbai experiencing a "technical snag" in one of its engines and another Dreamliner being forced to turn around due to a suspected mid-air technical issue.
• Investigators have recovered two black boxes from the crashed plane, which will contain vital clues about the cause of the disaster.
• Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the crash, managed to escape from the wreckage before it was consumed by the post-crash fire.
• Aviation maintenance and safety standards in India are under scrutiny following last week's crash due to vacancies in the Indian aviation safety regulator, leaving questions about its ability to fully discharge its functions.

Statistics:

• 200 passengers affected by the cancellation of flight AI159.
• 241 people killed in the crash of flight AI171 last Thursday.
• 270 people (241 on board and 29 passengers on the ground) affected by the crash of flight AI171.
• 2 black boxes recovered from the crashed plane.
• 200 passengers offloaded during a scheduled stopover at Kolkata airport when the flight from San Francisco to Mumbai experienced a "technical snag" in one of its engines.
• 1 sole survivor of the crash, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
• 11A, the seat of survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, located on an exit row next to a door.

Sources:

• Indian news agency IANS
• India's Economic Times
• The Telegraph