Crashed jet had clean engine history: Air India chairman
Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran said on Wednesday that the Boeing Dreamliner that crashed with 242 people on board last week had a clean engine history, revealing that the right engine was new while the left had been recently serviced, even as the airline announced a 15% reduction in international widebody services to stabilize operations.
In an interview with broadcaster Times Now, Chandrasekaran said Air India Flight 171's right engine was new and installed in March 2025, and that the left engine was last serviced in 2023 and was due for its next maintenance check in December 2025. 'Both the engine histories are clean,' he said, adding that the aircraft 'has a clean history.'
The Dreamliner was fitted with GE Aerospace's GEnx engines.
Chandrasekaran said he expects preliminary findings from the crash investigation within 30 days, while calling for complete transparency in the probe. 'I think they will give a preliminary finding in 30 days. After that, I don't know when the final finding will be,' he said.
'We need a very transparent communication of the findings. Everyone needs to know. I need to know. You need to know. The families need to know whenever it is done,' Chandrasekaran emphasized, adding that 'Unless or otherwise we know what happened, there is no hope to fix it so that it doesn't happen again.'
The chairman said he was confident that 'the black box and the recorders will definitely tell the story. And so we just have to wait for that' rather than engage in speculation.
Speaking about the pilots, the chairman said that Captain Sabharwal had more than 11,500 hours of flying experience, the first officer Clive Kundar had more than 3400 hours of flying experience.
'What I hear from colleagues is that they were excellent pilots and great professionals. So, we can't jump to any conclusions. I am told by all the experts that the black box and recorders will definitely tell the story. So, we just have to wait for that,' he said.
The disclosure comes as Air India announced sweeping cuts to its international operations, citing a combination of factors including ongoing safety inspections, geopolitical tensions, and what it described as a 'necessary cautious approach being taken by the engineering staff and Air India pilots.'
'Due to the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, night curfew in the airspaces of many countries in Europe and East Asia, the ongoing enhanced safety inspections, and also the necessary cautious approach being taken by the engineering staff and Air India pilots, there have been certain disruptions in our international operations over the last 6 days leading to a total of 83 cancellations,' Air India said in a statement.
The airline said it would reduce international services on widebody aircraft by 15% for the next few weeks, with cuts implemented between now and June 20 and continuing until at least mid-July. 'This effectively adds to our reserve aircraft availability to take care of any unplanned disruptions,' the carrier stated.
As an added precaution, Air India will also undertake enhanced safety checks on its Boeing 777 fleet, expanding inspections beyond the Dreamliner aircraft involved in last week's crash.
Officials said mandated checks on 26 out of Air India's 27 operational Boeing 787 aircraft were completed, with the final aircraft expected to be cleared by Wednesday night. '26 B787s have undergone the mandatory one time check mandated by the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) on June 13. Checks on the final operational 787 is expected to be completed by tonight,' an official said. 'No issues were found in any of these aircraft during the checks.'
Currently, the airline has 27 of its total 33 Boeing 787s that are operational, with the remaining six either grounded for maintenance or undergoing scheduled servicing.
'Out of total 33 aircraft, inspections have now been completed on 26 and these have been cleared for service, while inspection of the remainder will be complete in the coming days. The fact that 26 aircraft have been cleared gives reassurance in the safety measures and procedures that we follow,' Air India said.
On Wednesday, Air India cancelled three flights, including two after passengers had already boarded.
Flight AI-188 from Toronto to Delhi was cancelled after boarding due to extended maintenance and crew exceeding regulated flight duty limits. 'Passengers, who had already boarded the aircraft, were disembarked following cancellation of the flight,' the airline said.
The DGCA ordered enhanced surveillance of Air India's 33 Boeing 787 aircraft following the crash of Flight 171, which killed 241 people when it went down shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on Thursday. Since then, 66 Boeing 787-operated flights were cancelled between June 12 and June 17.
The aircraft, bound for London with 242 people aboard, began losing altitude seconds after takeoff before crashing into buildings near Ahmedabad airport. Only one passenger survived, while approximately 30 people on the ground were also killed.
Air India apologised to passengers affected by the curtailments and said it would inform them in advance while making 'best efforts to accommodate them on alternate flights.' The airline is offering passengers a choice to reschedule their travel without cost or receive a full refund.
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