Air India marred by flight disruptions in crash aftermath – DW – 06/18/2025
Air India has seen a wave of flight cancellations, with its Boeing fleet under review by Indian regulators. Meanwhile, over 200 victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash have been identified.
Indian air carrier Air India is facing pressure, as the country's regulator ordered checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft, the same that was involved in a major fatal crash last week.
The London-bound Air India flight crashed during take-off in the city of Ahmedabad, killing at least 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew.
What caused the Air India crash?
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
What do we know about the cancellations?
A total of 83 wide-body flights, including 66 flights involving the Boeing Dreamliner, have been canceled, according to data shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India's aviation safety regulator.
"There is a cascading impact operationally. We are being extra cautious and doing extra checks beyond the usual," a company executive familiar with the matter told the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity.
In addition to the inspections, the closure of airspace in some Middle Eastern countries, as a result of the conflict between Israel and Iran, have crippled Air India's domestic and international operations.
Initial checks on Air India's Boeing dreamliner fleet "did not reveal any major safety concerns," the country's regulator said late Tuesday.
"The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards," officials added.
Over 200 victims identified
The airline has tried to reassure passengers, while the search for the cause of the crash in Ahmedabad is underway by experts from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, with assistance from the UK, the US and Boeing.
Investigators are currently retrieving vital information from both black boxes that were recovered from the site, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.
A single passenger survives Air India plane crash
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner erupted into a fireball when it crashed moments after takeoff, leaving what witnesses said were badly burnt bodies and scattered remains.
Indian authorities said Wednesday that more than 200 victims of the Ahmedabad crash have been identified through DNA testing.
The announcement was welcome news for many victims' family members, many of whom have been providing DNA samples to help identify their loved ones.
"As of 2 pm, 202 DNA [samples] have been matched," Harsh Sanghavi, home minister of Ahmedabad's Gujarat state, wrote on X.
Edited by: Rana Taha
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
an hour ago
- DW
US updates: Trump admin slashes jobs at Voice of America – DW – 06/21/2025
Voice of America is the largest US government-funded international broadcaster and hundreds of employees have been laid off in a fresh round of firings. A top Democrat called it a "dark day for the truth." The Trump administration on Friday laid off 639 employees at US public broadcaster Voice of America (VoA) and its parent organization, the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM). VoA was established in World War II and aims much of its programming at countries under authoritarian regimes such as North Korea and Iran. Kari Lake, a former television anchor and Trump ally who serves as the senior advisor to the USAGM, said the cuts are part of a "long overdue effort to dismantle a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy." Some 1,400 people have been fired at VoA and USAGM since March, Lake said. Many VOA staff have been on administrative leave since March 15 amid legal proceedings. Trump has attacked publicly-funded news outlets such as VoA and National Public Radio (NPR), claiming without concrete evidence that their programming is biased toward conservatives. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Welcome to DW's coverage of current affairs in the US and the second term of President Donald Trump. In addition to the latest news on the US, this blog will also bring you multimedia content, analysis and on-the-ground reporting from DW correspondents. Stay tuned for more!
DW
a day ago
- DW
Indonesia inks strategic partnership with Russia – DW – 06/19/2025
The leaders of Russia and Indonesia met in St Petersburg, where they lauded strong bilateral ties and Jakarta's new role in the BRICS grouping. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto signed a strategic partnership agreement with Russia on Thursday following talks in St Petersburg with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The agreement comes as Indonesia enters the BRICS grouping as a full member, and Prabowo on Thursday thanked Putin for his support on Indonesia's BRICS bid. "Today we have met and our relationship is getting stronger again," Prabowo said in a statement. "My meeting with President Putin today was intense, warm and productive. In all fields of economics, technical cooperation, trade, investment, agriculture, they all have experienced significant improvements," the statement said. Putin called Indonesia one of Russia's "key partners" in the Asia Pacific. "Our relations are mutually beneficial and are steadily developing on the basis of long-standing traditions of friendship and mutual assistance," he said. Another BRIC in the wall The BRICS grouping was conceived as a counter to Western-led forums like the G7, and has provided Putin with an avenue out of international diplomatic isolation over his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow's deepening of ties with Indonesia is seen as part of a bid to partner with more global south countries. During the meeting Thursday at St Petersburg's Constantine Palace, Putin said he was confident Indonesia would make a significant contribution to the BRICS grouping, whose other members include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Russia has also proposed deepening military, security, trade and nuclear ties with Indonesia. During the meeting, sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia and the Russian Direct Investment Fund agreed to create an investment fund worth $2.29 billion (€2 billion). Indonesia's non-alignment Indonesia's president maintains a non-aligned foreign policy, vowing to share close ties with any country, including Russia and the United States. Prabowo's government has already announced trade concessions to avert the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump. He also insists Indonesia will not join any military bloc, although it conducted joint naval exercises with Russia in the Java Sea last November. In 2023, it upgraded its relationship with the US to a comprehensive strategic partnership. And Prabowo's government has already announced trade concessions to avert the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump. What is BRICS and what does it want? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Nevertheless, Jakarta's close ties with Russia have caused concern among Indonesia's Western allies. Prabowo skipped the G7 summit in Canada this week in favor of meeting Putin in Russia. His last visit to Russia was in August 2024, as Indonesian defense minister and president-elect. At the time he described Russia as a "great friend." Edited by: Zac Crellin
DW
a day ago
- DW
New Zealand pauses Cook Island aid over China deals – DW – 06/19/2025
China has been wooing Pacific Island countries with strategic partnership agreements. New Zealand has said it will pause funding to the Cook Islands until it can take a closer look at these deals. New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Thursday said millions of dollars in funding for the Cook Islands would be suspended while his government examines the "breadth and content" of agreements with China. Luxon, who is visiting China for the first time this week, said the Cook Islands was not transparent about the scope of its strategic partnership with Beijing. "We've suspended some of the aid money until we can get clarity on those issues," he said in Shanghai. The funding pause amounts to a $11 million development assistance payment for the next financial year, according to government figures. New Zealand is the biggest provider of financial support for the Cook Islands. The Cook Islands' China deals The funding pause is part of larger friction between New Zealand, Australia and smaller Pacific island nations that China is approaching with partnership agreements as Beijing works on expanding its influence in the Pacific. In February, the Cook Islands surprised New Zealand by signing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement with China on deep-sea mining, regional cooperation and economic issues. The agreement did not include security cooperation, but it did allow for more China-funded infrastructure projects. The Cook Islands was formerly part of the Colony of New Zealand. Today, it is self-governing and currently has a "free association" relationship New Zealand, sharing a military and passports. New Zealand also provides the Cook Islands with budgetary assistance, and advises on foreign affairs and defense. Cook Islanders can also freely work and live in New Zealand, which heightened security concerns after the agreement with China was signed. China's plan to dominate the seas To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday that "both New Zealand and the Cook Islands are important partners of China," adding that the strategic partnership agreement was not intended to antagonize New Zealand. "China-Cook Islands cooperation targets no third party, nor should it be interfered with or constrained by any third party," Beijing said. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said in February that the agreement with Beijing did not "replace our longstanding relationships with New Zealand, Australia and others, but rather complements them, ensuring that we have a diversified portfolio of partnerships." New Zealand Prime Minister Luxon is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. New Zealand seeks more 'trust' The funds in question are part of a larger raft of $116 million (€101 million) in aid provided by New Zealand to the Cook Islands over the past three years under its free association agreement and earmarked for health, education and tourism sectors. A spokesperson for New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday said the Cook Islands' agreements with China demonstrated a "a gap in understanding" between the governments "about what our special relationship of free association requires." "New Zealand has therefore paused these payments and will also not consider significant new funding" until the Cook Islands government "takes concrete steps to repair the relationship and restore trust," the spokesperson's statement said. Edited by: Zac Crellin
