Mumbai: The Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed on June 12 within 30 seconds of taking off from Ahmedabad airport was “well maintained”, with all inspections up to date and no prior issues reported, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said on Thursday.
Reaching out to frequent flyers, Wilson expressed deep sorrow over the Flight AI-171 tragedy that killed all but one of 242 people on board as well as 30 people on ground after the plane crashed into a medical college hostel building.
“We are reaching out with heavy hearts following the tragic crash of Air India Flight AI171 on June 12, 2025. The loss of 241 passengers and crew members, along with 34 people on the ground, has left us all in deep sorrow. Words cannot express the pain we feel for the families and loved ones affected by this devastating event,” Wilson expressed in a statement.
The aircraft had undergone a major check in June 2023 and was next due in December 2025, Wilson said.
“Its right engine was overhauled in March and the left was inspected in April this year. Both the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored, showing no issues before the flight,” informed the man who was appointed CEO and MD of Air India by Tata Sons in May 2022.
Explaining the spate of flight cancellations post the Ahmedabad crash, Wilson pointed out that DGCA had ordered inspections of Air India’s entire Boeing 787 fleet. Of the 33 aircraft in use, 26 have passed safety checks, and the rest will undergo checks before re-entering service, Wilson said.
“Regrettably, the time required to perform these enhanced safety checks, along with the application of extra caution, external factors like airspace closures in Iran and the Middle East as well as night-time restrictions at some international airports, along with normal airline technical issues, has led to a higher-than-usual number of cancellations on our long-haul network in the past few days,” he said.
He explained the reason behind reduction of flights from Friday.
“As a confidence-building measure, we have elected to continue enhanced pre-flight safety checks on our Boeing 787 fleet and, as an added measure, our Boeing 777 aircraft, for the time being. Given the time these additional checks will consume and the potential impact on schedules, we have decided to reduce our international widebody flights by around 15% starting June 20, 2025 through to at least mid-July. This will also allow us to have more backup aircraft ready to handle any unexpected issues,” the CEO said.
Apologising for the inconvenience, Wilson extended assistance to passengers.
“We understand that this temporary reduction to our schedule may affect your travel plans, and we’re deeply sorry for any inconvenience. If your flight is impacted, we will contact you to offer rebooking on another flight at no extra cost, or a full refund. We will share the updated international schedule within the next few days,” he assured.
Black box decoding
Meanwhile, the location for decoding the black box recovered from the ill-fated Air India plane in Ahmedabad will be decided after due assessment of all technical, safety and security considerations, the government said on Thursday.
Reports suggested that India would send the black box to the US for data recovery as the recorder was heavily damaged in the crash. The government, however, said the location would be decided by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
