Confusion surrounds Air India as crash dents national pride
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The airline, seen as a symbol of India, had poured billions into expansion and modernization to repair its image after decades of neglect under state ownership.
Under the Indian conglomerate, which founded the airline in 1932 and bought it back in 2022 after it spent decades under government operation, Air India was making big moves, announcing a record order in 2023 of 470 aircraft valued at more than $70 billion.
A year later, the airline said it had begun a $400 million retrofit of its legacy fleet, accelerating the upgrade by leasing jets from other airlines, including Delta.
That momentum came to a grinding halt last month when a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed seconds after takeoff in the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard plus 19 others on the ground in one of India’s worst aviation disasters.
Air India has since been under immense pressure to answer for the crash, but bereaved families were left with more questions after investigators released a preliminary report this month that said the plane’s fuel switches had been wrongly cut off, leading to speculation that one of the pilots might have done it accidentally or even intentionally.
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The airline, seen as a symbol of India, had poured billions into expansion and modernization to repair its image after decades of neglect under state ownership.
Under the Indian conglomerate, which founded the airline in 1932 and bought it back in 2022 after it spent decades under government operation, Air India was making big moves, announcing a record order in 2023 of 470 aircraft valued at more than $70 billion.
A year later, the airline said it had begun a $400 million retrofit of its legacy fleet, accelerating the upgrade by leasing jets from other airlines, including Delta.
That momentum came to a grinding halt last month when a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed seconds after takeoff in the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard plus 19 others on the ground in one of India’s worst aviation disasters.
Air India has since been under immense pressure to answer for the crash, but bereaved families were left with more questions after investigators released a preliminary report this month that said the plane’s fuel switches had been wrongly cut off, leading to speculation that one of the pilots might have done it accidentally or even intentionally.
Yeah, some people died, but have you thought about all the hurt proud of Indian pilots and so?
That's a really weird take on that situation... or do I somehow read this wrong?
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The airline, seen as a symbol of India, had poured billions into expansion and modernization to repair its image after decades of neglect under state ownership.
Under the Indian conglomerate, which founded the airline in 1932 and bought it back in 2022 after it spent decades under government operation, Air India was making big moves, announcing a record order in 2023 of 470 aircraft valued at more than $70 billion.
A year later, the airline said it had begun a $400 million retrofit of its legacy fleet, accelerating the upgrade by leasing jets from other airlines, including Delta.
That momentum came to a grinding halt last month when a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed seconds after takeoff in the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard plus 19 others on the ground in one of India’s worst aviation disasters.
Air India has since been under immense pressure to answer for the crash, but bereaved families were left with more questions after investigators released a preliminary report this month that said the plane’s fuel switches had been wrongly cut off, leading to speculation that one of the pilots might have done it accidentally or even intentionally.
FAA Advisory:
The report cited a 2018 FAA advisory that urged operators of Boeing models, including the 787, to inspect the locking mechanism on fuel cutoff switches to prevent unintentional movement. The preliminary report noted that Air India had not carried out these inspections as they were not mandatory.*
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FAA Advisory:
The report cited a 2018 FAA advisory that urged operators of Boeing models, including the 787, to inspect the locking mechanism on fuel cutoff switches to prevent unintentional movement. The preliminary report noted that Air India had not carried out these inspections as they were not mandatory.*
This was not an issue for this plane. They replaced the entire throttle control module in 2019 and in 2023. Quoted text below is from page 6 of the preliminary report. I have bolded the relevant sentences.
The FAA issued Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) No. NM-18-33 on
December 17, 2018, regarding the potential disengagement of the fuel control switch locking
feature. This SAIB was issued based on reports from operators of Model 737 airplanes that
the fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged. The airworthiness
concern was not considered an unsafe condition that would warrant airworthiness directive
(AD) by the FAA. The fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on
various Boeing airplane models including part number 4TL837-3D which is fitted in B787-8
aircraft VT-ANB. As per the information from Air India, the suggested inspections were not
carried out as the SAIB was advisory and not mandatory. The scrutiny of maintenance records
revealed that the throttle control module was replaced on VT-ANB in 2019 and 2023.
However, the reason for the replacement was not linked to the fuel control switch. There has
been no defect reported pertaining to the fuel control switch since 2023 on VT-ANB. -
Yeah, some people died, but have you thought about all the hurt proud of Indian pilots and so?
That's a really weird take on that situation... or do I somehow read this wrong?
Both can be discussed. In fact many levels of this can be discussed, from the effect on individuals and families involved in the crash, the effect on the owners of the buildings, the effect on the airport, the city, the airline, the country.
Just because they're talking about the effects of a disaster like this on Air India, it doesn't take away from what happened to the individuals. It shows the massive reverberations of an event like this.
The airline still has individuals working for it whose livelihood is potentially affected. There are people making the planes that the airline is purchasing. It's people who live in India who are in mourning over the individuals who died but also shocked at the impact to a symbol of national pride.
If you're not ready to think about the people beyond those directly affected, that's fine. (I'm not being facetious. Everyone processes things in a different way. It's really okay.) But a story like this is inevitably going to be bigger than those individuals and people will talk about different aspects of it. If it wasn't that big, we probably wouldn't be hearing or talking about it at all at this point.
