Over 1,100 787s Dreamliners criss-crossing skies; a flight path of connectivity & now a crash

New Delhi: Considered an airline's work horse for long-haul flights, Boeing's Dreamliners took to the skies 14 years ago and now, more than 1,100 such planes are in service.

And the Air India plane crash on Thursday that snuffed out the lives of 241 people onboard was also the first time that the best-selling wide-body Dreamliner or Boeing 787 suffered a fatal accident resulting in hull loss.

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, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

There are 1,148 Boeing 787 variants in service globally, with an average age of 7.5 years, it said.

Indian airlines & 787s Currently, Air India and IndiGo are the two Indian airlines operating the B787 planes.

Of the 34 B787s in the Air India fleet, 27 B787-8s are legacy aircraft. The first of the legacy B787-8 is slated to go for retrofit in July. The remaining seven B 787-9 joined the Air India fleet after the merger of Vistara with it last year.

Globally, the Ahmedabad crash is the first time that hull loss has happened for a B787 aircraft, according to an official.

Cirium on Thursday said the aircraft operated its first flight on December 14, 2013.

The plane was delivered to Air India on January 28, 2014, and it was 11.5 years old.

"The aircraft had 18 business class seats and 238 economy class seats. It had more than 41,000 hours of flying time, and almost 8,000 takeoffs and landings, including some 700 cycles in the past 12 months. This is average for that aircraft build year/period," Cirium said.

Air India, which is expanding its fleet and overseas network, has an additional 20 B787s on order and a letter of intent for options for an additional 24 aircraft, as per Cirium.

Recently, IndiGo started operating a B787 leased from Norwegian carrier Norse Atlantic. IndiGo is to lease a total of six such planes for long-haul operations.

Headwinds A few years back, the US watchdog Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had stopped deliveries of the Dreamliners due to certain issues but the plane was never involved in any fatal crash till Thursday.

When it comes to India, Air India had problems with Dreamliners due to battery issues back in 2013.

The battery troubles had also forced then government-owned Air India to briefly ground its fleet of Dreamliners. At that time, the carrier had around six such planes.

Also, the airline had received compensation from Boeing for the issues.

Best selling wide-body aircraft Boeing, which has faced multiple headwinds in recent years, describes B787 as the "best selling passenger wide-body of all time".

The Dreamliners come in three models -- 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10. The 787-8 has a range of up to 13,530 kilometres.

The plane's length is 57 metres, height is 17 metres and the wingspan is 60 metres, as per Boeing website.

The Dreamliner fleet has carried more than 1 billion passengers in less than 14 years, faster than any other wide-body jet in aviation history, according to the aircraft maker's website.

"A lighter and robust composite structure enables airlines to reduce fuel use by up to 25 per cent compared to the airplanes it replaces. The 787 has unlocked more than 425 new non-stop routes around the world, many of which were never served previously," it says.