The Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s right engine was overhauled in March 2025, Campbell Wilson, the airline’s managing director, has said in a public statement. He mentioned that the left engine was inspected in April even as public outrage continues to grow over the aircraft’s crash only 36 seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport on June 12.
Wilson insisted that the London Gatwick-bound aircraft was “well-maintained, with its last major inspection in June 2023 and another scheduled for December 2025.”
He made these points in an email to members of Air India’s loyalty programme, the Maharaja Club.
He said that both engines and the aircraft itself showed no signs of malfunction prior to the flight. The pilots — Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder — had a combined 13,400 hours of flying experience.
Wilson’s comments come as Air India grapples with a wave of public and regulatory scrutiny following the horrific crash that killed 272 people onboard and at least 33 on the ground. Only one passenger, a British-Indian man, survived — a stroke of luck described by many as miraculous.
The aircraft, carrying a full load of fuel and 272 individuals including 10 crew members, took off at 1:39 PM and within seconds reported “a lack of thrust” to Ahmedabad ATC.Almost instantly, communication was severed. A few seconds later, the plane crashed into a crowded residential area in the Meghani Nagar district, crashing into a medical student housing and leaving behind catastrophic debris.
The prevailing theory among aviation experts is a catastrophic systems failure — either dual engine failure or a complete electronic or hydraulic breakdown. This is reinforced by both aural and visual confirmation of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deploying mid-flight — a backup system triggered during total power loss.
Still, some experts warn against linking the tragedy to aircraft age or scheduled maintenance intervals. Former aviation investigator Kishore Chinta, speaking to the BBC, noted that the Genx-1B engines on the Boeing 787-8 do not follow a fixed maintenance timetable thanks to Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) software, which monitors performance in real time and flags anomalies. “However, there are still parts that must be replaced regularly due to wear-and-tear,” Chinta added.
In response to the crash, Wilson confirmed that “thorough safety inspections” were immediately ordered for Air India’s Dreamliner fleet. Of the 33 Boeing 787 aircraft owned by the airline (now 32 after the crash), 26 have been cleared to resume operations following checks. Nevertheless, “enhanced pre-flight safety checks” on all Dreamliners will continue, leading to a 15% reduction in widebody aircraft usage — a disruption expected to last through mid-July.
Wilson acknowledged that the combination of extended inspection timelines and restricted airspace over parts of West Asia has “led to a higher-than-usual number of cancellations on our long-haul network.” According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air India has cancelled 66 Dreamliner flights since the crash — 22 of them the very next day.
Adding further gravity to the unfolding crisis, the aircraft’s black box — comprising the flight data and voice recorders — has been recovered, though partially damaged. An extraction process is required to retrieve the critical data, and it remains unclear whether this will be conducted in India or abroad. Indian officials will accompany the devices should they be sent to the United States to ensure protocol compliance.
The Dreamliner crash is the latest blow to Air India’s reputation, which has suffered in recent years due to mounting service complaints and previous regulatory run-ins.
Also Read: Air India Slammed By Aviation Regulator For Safety Breaches And Systemic Failures https://www.vibesofindia.com/air-india-slammed-by-aviation-regulator-for-safety-breaches-and-systemic-failures/
