One of the Boeing 787-8 “Dreamliner” aircraft operated by Air India, photo: Andreas Haas / Imago Stock and People / Profimedia
The air accident that took place on Thursday in India marks a negative premiere for Boeing, which has been praised so far with an almost perfect safety record for its Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” aircraft, reports the BBC.
The 787 model was launched 14 years ago and no such aircraft has collapsed so far or has been involved in any accident with victims.
The only incident in which a Boeing 787 was involved in March last year, when around 50 passengers suffered minor injuries, after a “technical problem” caused a “strong movement” during a Sydney flight to Auckland by Lamam Airlines.
Just six weeks ago, Boeing praised the fact that this model, also known as “Dreamliner”, had reached the terminal of one billion passengers transported.
To mark this opportunity, the company said the global aircraft fleet 787 – over 1,175 devices – has made almost 5 million flights, totaling over 30 million flight hours.
The collapse is a major blow to the American company, which strives to overcome a number of problems, including fatal accidents, related to model 737.
The first Boeing reaction after the Air India plane crashes with 242 people on board
Boeing inspected the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” planes last year that were not delivered
The plane that crashed on Thursday in India was a Boeing 787-8. With a typical capacity of 248 passengers and an action range of 7,305 nautical miles (13,529 km), the 787 –8 is the basic version of the 787 family and was the first to enter service, in 2011.
787-8 is intended to replace the Boeing 767-200ER and Airbus A330-200 aircraft, as well as to allow extension to new direct flights, where larger aircraft would not be economically viable.
Despite the safety record so far, the US Safety Regulatory Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has been forced to investigate more problems, including the sudden descent during last year.
Last year, an integrity warning asked, during some hearings in Washington, for Boeing to stop all 787 “Dreamliner” aircraft. Boeing rejected the former engineer's statements and said he has full confidence in this plane model. Instead, he triggered an inspection at 787 aircraft, after discovering that hundreds of fixing elements were installed incorrectly on the fuselages of some flight devices that were not delivered to the buyers.
“We give ourselves the time to ensure that all planes meet our delivery standards before delivery. We work closely with our customers and with FAA and keep them up to date,” said the company at that time.
There are over 1,100 787 aircraft in service worldwide, used by most important international airlines. The model is appreciated for the much better fuel consumption efficiency and for the low noise level compared to the types of aircraft it has replaced.
