'Technical issue' forces Air India Boeing 787 to turn back to Hong Kong
The issue occurred just days after a similar Dreamliner crashed into buildings in Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing at least 279 people in the aircraft and on the ground. It was the first Dreamliner crash and only one passenger survived.
"A passenger flight, AI315, operated by Air India from Hong Kong to New Delhi made a return to Hong Kong International Airport and requested local standby at around 1p.m. today," a spokesperson for Airport Authority Hong Kong said.
Air India said in a statement that the plane returned to undergo checks "as a matter of abundant precaution."
Some aviation analysts believe the wing flaps on the plane that crashed were not in the correct position.
"It looked like the jet struggled to maintain lift," Dan Bubb, a longtime pilot and now airline historian at the University of Nevada, said.
"Some pilots have speculated that the flaps may not have been set to the takeoff position. Historically, there have been crashes when flaps weren't properly configured."
Authorities have ordered Air India to carry out more safety checks on all Boeing 787s. The Dreamliner has flown commercially since 2011.
One survivor found, 260+ dead in
Air India plane crash
June 12 (UPI) -- Police in the Indian city of Ahmedabad said one person survived and more than 260 died in the Air India plane crash as recovery efforts continue on Thursday.
The lone survivor was among the airliner's 242 passengers and crew after the aircraft crashed in a populated area and struck a medical college, The New York Times reported.
Several students died when the plane struck the medical college, which raised the death toll to nearly 270.
A hospital near the crash site received 269 bodies, but the exact death toll won't be announced until after DNA testing is done, according to local police.
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The survivor has been identified as a British citizen named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
He was in seat 11A on the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that was bound for London when it crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in Ahmedabad in western India, BBC News reported.
His brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, told the BBC that his brother doesn't know how he survived or got out of the plane.
"Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly," Ramesh told media.
Air India previously announced that Flight AI171 was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national.
Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson has since explained the plane was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.
The plane took off from Ahmedabad Airport at about 1:38 p.m. local time en route to London Gatwick Airport.
It crashed into a residential area near the Ahmedabad airport after reaching an altitude of 625 feet shortly after takeoff.
Part of the plane struck the dining area of B.J. Medical College.
Federation of All India Medical Association Vice President Dr. Divyaansh Singh announced in a X post that reports indicate there are 10 to 20 casualties from its student body and resident doctors.
He also has requested that those in or near Ahmedabad donate blood to help those injured in the accident.
Ahmedabad Police also posted a list of 25 people who were injured, most of whom are between the ages of 18 and 20.
Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran announced in a statement that he and the airline's parent company Tata Group "are deeply anguished by the tragic event involving Air India Flight 171."
Chandrasekaran further explained that his company will cover the medical expenses of those injured, provide support to B.J. Medical College and give around $117,000 to the families of each person who died in the crash.
He concluded the statement by noting, "We remain steadfast in standing with the affected families and communities during this unimaginable time."
Midair emergencies force four Boeing Dreamliners
to divert India flights
Four Boeing 787 Dreamliners on international flights to India have been forced to turn back due to technical issues over the past few days, according to media reports.
On Sunday, a Hyderabad-bound Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt returned to the German airport midway through the journey based on a suspected bomb threat, according to sources quoted by the media outlet India Today. Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Hyderabad airport received a message that the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was returning to Frankfurt after having taken off.
On Monday, Air India flight AI315 was forced to return to Hong Kong just 15 minutes after taking off, Reuters reported. The airline confirmed the incident, citing a “technical issue” as the reason for the return, but did not provide further details. The Boeing 787-8 aircraft successfully landed without incident, and alternate arrangements were made for the passengers.
Also on Monday, a British Airways flight carrying 214 passengers to Chennai was forced to dump fuel and return to London after the pilots reported a suspected technical issue, Business Insider reported. “The aircraft returned to Heathrow as a standard precaution after reports of a technical issue,” a BA spokesperson told the website, adding that there was no “emergency landing.”
In a similar incident, passengers on an Air India San Francisco-Mumbai flight were asked to deplane in Kolkata on Tuesday after a snag was detected in the left engine during a scheduled stop, delaying the onward journey by hours, an India Today report said. These developments come just days after an Air India 787-8 crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, killing 290 people.
Officials told the Associated Press that early indications suggest the aircraft may not have been correctly configured for takeoff. There have been numerous complaints, whistleblower revelations and concerns regarding the safety of Boeing 787s, according to media reports.
In 2019, a New York Times report revealed that John Barnett, a former quality manager who retired in 2017, had filed a whistleblower complaint alleging subpar work on the 787s. In January 2024, another whistleblower alleged that the Dreamliner’s fuselage had improper connections, with gaps that could cause it to break apart in flight.
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