Air India plane crash | DGCA orders enhanced inspection of airline's Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet

There are 26 Boeing 787-8s and 7 Boeing 787-9s in the fleet of Air India owned by Tata Group.

New Delhi: A day after an ill-fated 'Dreamliner' aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday ordered "enhanced safety inspection" of Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet with immediate effect in coordination with its local offices. Air India has 27 Boeing 787-8s and seven Boeing 787-9s in its fleet.

In its order, the civil aviation regulator six additional maintenance actions on the B787-8/9 aircraft equipped with Genx engines with immediate effect as a "preventive measure. In the plane crash on Thursday afternoon, 241 of the 242 people on board were killed within a minute of the Ahmedabad-Gatwick flight took off.

Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner lies at the site where the Air India plane crashed

The inspections would be carried out by the airline in coordination with the regional offices of the DGCA. According to the order, a one-time check should be conducted before the departure of Dreamliner flights from India on six parameters with effect from June 15.

The six parameters are inspection of fuel parameter monitoring and associated system checks, inspection of cabin air compressor and associated systems, electronic engine control system test, engine fuel driver actuator-operational test and oil system check, serviceability check of hydraulic system and review of take-off parameters.

It also said ‘flight control inspection’ should be introduced in transit inspection till further notice while power assurance checks should be carried out within two weeks.

The order also said that there should be closure of maintenance action based on review of repetitive snags during the last 15 days on B787-8/9 aircraft at the earliest. The DGCA has asked the airline to submit a report on the additional checks ordered by the regulator.

The order came amid speculation that the government may order grounding of 'Dreamliners'. Air India and IndiGo are the two Indian airlines operating the B787 planes.

The Boeing 787-8 aircraft -- VT-ANB -- involved in the crash was 11.5 years old and had flown for more than 41,000 hours with around 8,000 takeoffs and landings. This is the first time that a hull loss has happened for a Dreamliner aircraft.

The aircraft operated its first flight on 14 December, 2013 and delivered to Air India on 28 January, 2014. It had 18 business class seats and 238 economy class seats.

Air India has an order for 20 B787s on order while a letter of intent for options for another 24 aircraft has been placed. IndiGo started operating a B787 leased from Norwegian carrier Norse Atlantic and is going to lease six Dreamliners for long-haul operations.