Air India chief reveals major update on crash investigation as he says doomed Boeing's engines had ‘just been serviced'
AN AIR India boss has revealed a major update on the deadly crash in Ahmedabad - as he detailed how the Boeing aircraft had "recently been serviced".
The airline's chair said that the doomed jet had a "clean history" as well as two recently serviced engines, before it smashed into a doctors' hostel and exploded into a huge fireball last week.
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The Air India chair revealed a huge update on the crash
Credit: Reuters
N Chandrasekaran, who also chairs of the carrier's owner, Tata Group, hit back at 'speculation' on what caused the London-bound flight to crash a minute after take-off.
And he said that a probe into what exactly caused India's worst air disaster in nearly three decades could take a month.
All passengers and crew - except for one miracle survivor - died on Air India Flight AI171 after it crashed on June 12, killing at least 270 people.
Chandrasekaran told India's Economic Times: 'There are speculations about human error, speculations about airlines, speculations about engines, maintenance, all kinds.
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'But the fact that I know so far is this particular aircraft, this specific tail, AI171 has a clean history,'
The chairman added that the Dreamliner's right engine was 'new' and installed in March, just three months prior.
Meanwhile, its left engine was serviced in 2023 and due for its next maintenance check in December, Chandrasekaran explained.
'Both engine histories are clean,' he emphasised.
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Sumeet Sabharwal, the experienced captain of the doomed flight, had more than 11,500 hours of flying experience.
And his co-pilot and first officer Clive Kunder, had over 3,400 hours.
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One of the most poignant photographs ever printed on the front page of this publication was that of the lines of dead bodies in the temporary morgue set up in Cork for the victims of Air India flight 182. A bomb placed on board the flight by militants exploded off the Kerry/West Cork coast on June 23, 1985, with the plane plunging into the Atlantic. Forty years on, photographer Denis Minihane can still recall second by second the lead-up to snapping that iconic photograph, which also showed a group of medics gathered in the background of the image. Now retired after spending 47 years as a press photographer, the then 26-year-old snapper had been looking forward to a busy afternoon shooting sports photos in Thurles for two Munster hurling games. HISTORY HUB If you are interested in this article then no doubt you will enjoy exploring the various history collections and content in our history hub. 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Finbarr Archer, who has driven lord mayors of Cork for many years, has looked after their graves for the past 40 years. Well-known Cork figure, Finbarr Archer. In June 1985, Finbar was working as an undertaker when he was stationed at the makeshift morgue in Cork following the Air India Flight 182 disaster. In the aftermath, he personally arranged the burial of two unclaimed victims and has continued to tend their graves at St. Michael's Cemetery in Blackrock ever since. Picture Chani Anderson He worked as an undertaker's assistant at the time of the disaster, documenting the names of the dead and helping out at a makeshift mortuary. Mr Archer said that Ann Marie Alexander's husband and a son were also on the flight, but their bodies were never recovered. 'The mother and daughter's bodies were never claimed. We believe that's probably because they didn't have any relatives left,' he said. So, he took it upon himself to tend to their graves ever since and is organising the commemoration at St Michael's Cemetery. 'We will be having local school children playing music on the day and there will be representatives from the fire service and gardaí in attendance. We will also have some of the guards and firemen who were involved in the aftermath of the recovery operations. We'll also have a colour party of UN veterans who'll parade with the Irish Tricolour and Indian and Canadian national flags,' Finbarr said. The ceremony is open to the public and will get under way at about midday. Meanwhile, the navy has revealed as a mark of respect to those lost it has commissioned a commemorative plaque which will be unveiled at Haulbowline naval base during a special ceremony later this summer. Among those invited to the unveiling will be the crewmembers who served proudly on board LE Aisling at the time of the tragedy and as a recognition the navy intends to present them with a commemorative military coin. Read More It is a miracle, says lone survivor of Air India plane crash
