Air India plane crash latest: Flights cancelled as Dreamliners face scrutiny days after tragedy that killed 270
Several international routes – including links between India and London, Paris, Vienna, and Dubai – were disrupted yesterday as Air India halted operations on multiple flights.
The airline attributed the interruptions to a mix of factors: grounded aircraft, technical issues, restricted airspace, and heightened safety protocols.
Hundreds gathered in Mumbai yesterday to honour Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the Air India pilot who has been hailed as a hero for limiting casualties on the ground during last week's crash.
Captain Sabharwal issued a mayday call moments after takeoff and residents on the ground have credited him with avoiding a large residential building that was directly on the flight path.
Investigators have recovered flight AI171's cockpit voice recorder and will analyse the pilots' final words to help determine the cause of the crash.
Why did the Air India flight crash? Here's how experts will investigate the 30-second disaster
Maroosha Muzaffar18 June 2025 05:00
India regulator finds no major safety flaws in Air India Dreamliner fleet
India's aviation regulator, the DGCA, found no major safety flaws in Air India's Dreamliner fleet after inspecting 24 aircraft, offering some relief amid post-crash scrutiny.
However, it flagged ongoing issues with spare-part delays and poor coordination between departments, warning these could affect reliability.
Despite the concerns, all inspected planes met current safety standards.
Following the crash, India's civil aviation minister had ordered extended inspections of all 33 Boeing 787s in the Indian fleet.
Maroosha Muzaffar18 June 2025 04:59
Regulator asks Air India for training data on pilots and dispatcher of crashed plane
India's aviation regulator, the DGCA, has requested detailed training records for the pilots and dispatcher of the Air India Dreamliner that crashed last week, killing more than 270 people.
The move is part of a broader investigation into the tragedy, led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
The DGCA also asked flying schools nationwide to carry out compliance checks on safety procedures, training, and coordination, and told airports to hold full-scale emergency drills by 30 June, according to Reuters, which cited a confidential memo seen by them.
While no specific concerns have been raised about Air India's operations yet, the requests are standard post-crash procedures.
Maroosha Muzaffar18 June 2025 04:30
Multiple international flights cancelled as Air India Dreamliners come under scrutiny
Air India has cancelled or delayed multiple international flights operated by Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners following last week's deadly crash that killed more than 270 people.
Several international routes – among them London, Paris, Vienna, and Dubai – were disrupted on Tuesday as Air India halted operations on multiple flights.
The airline attributed the interruptions to a mix of factors: grounded aircraft, technical issues, restricted airspace, and heightened safety protocols.
In the past two days alone, at least three more Dreamliner flights have either been delayed or taken out of service amid intensified inspections mandated by India's aviation authority, which is scrutinising all 33 of Air India's Dreamliners.
A Boeing 777 on the San Francisco–Mumbai route was also sidelined due to a mechanical fault.
Maroosha Muzaffar18 June 2025 03:56
WATCH: British wellness couple posted 'Goodbye India' video from airport before fatal Air India plane crash
Bryony Gooch18 June 2025 03:30
'Why me?' Six extraordinary stories of sole plane crash survivors
The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash that killed more than 270 people somehow walked from the wreckage of the aircraft after it crashed in the city of Ahmedabad.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was in seat 11A near the emergency exit, and managed to escape through the broken hatch. He was filmed after Thursday's disaster limping along the street in a bloodstained T-shirt with bruises on his face.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plummeted seconds after take-off and erupted in a ball of fire, killing everyone else on board.
As extraordinary as it seems, the 40-year-old Briton's miraculous escape isn't the first story of a sole air-crash survivor. Dozens of stories have been shared from as far back as 1929, when 34-year-old Lou Foote survived a crash that killed 14 others in Newark, New Jersey.
Here, senior reporter Alex Ross takes a look at six survivor stories.
The startling stories of six plane crash sole survivors after India Air tragedy
After Viswashkumar Ramesh somehow survived the Air India plane crash that killed everyone else on board, Alex Ross takes a look at other lone survivors and how it changed their lives for ever
Bryony Gooch18 June 2025 02:30
'It's all very raw': Twenty victims of the Air India plane crash connected to the same London temple
Thousands of people have been left in mourning after the Air India plane disaster claimed more than 240 lives on Thursday.
But one north-west London community, some 4,000 miles away from the Ahmedabad crash site, is feeling the impact more than most.
Twenty of the victims have connections to the same temple in Harrow, its leader has said, with multiple families now trying to come to terms with what has happened. Among those killed in the Dreamliner disaster are a mother and father who lost their son, a pilot, in a plane crash in France just a few years ago.
Holly Evans reports:
Twenty victims of Air India plane disaster all connected to the same London temple
Shri Rajrajeshwar Guruji International Siddhashram Shakti Centre said multiple worshippers had lost loved ones in the tragedy
Bryony Gooch18 June 2025 01:30
Watch: Miracle moment British survivor of Air India crash emerges from flames of wreckage
Bryony Gooch18 June 2025 00:30
India regulator says no 'major safety concerns' on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet
India's aviation safety watchdog said on Tuesday surveillance conducted on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns, days after one of its jets crashed, killing at least 271 people.
"The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
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.
Bryony Gooch17 June 2025 23:30
Experts say investigation into crash 'could take time'
Aurobindo Handa, former director general of India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, has said the investigation into last week's crash would likely be a long process as the aircraft was badly charred.
He added that ascertaining the condition of the black boxes recovered from the crash site was vital as the heat generated from the crash could be possibly higher than the bearable threshold of the device.
Daniel Keane17 June 2025 22:30
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