 "What brought down Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad? New report flags serious defects in aircraft long before crash")
A US aviation safety campaign group has raised fresh concerns about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner involved in the June 12, 2025 crash near Ahmedabad, saying the aircraft had a long history of technical problems stretching back to its earliest days in service.
The crash, which happened shortly after the plane took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport en route to London, killed 260 people and remains under investigation by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), with support from US authorities.
According to the Foundation for Aviation Safety (FAS), a US‑based group that submitted a detailed presentation to the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the Boeing 787‑8 aircraft registered VT‑ANB experienced system malfunctions from its very first day with Air India.
The group says the evidence it has reviewed—drawn from more than 2,000 system failure reports and internal documents—points to a “wide and confusing variety” of engineering, manufacturing, quality and maintenance issues.
Technical problems beyond the crash
The FAS alleges the plane suffered repeated electronics and software faults, frequent circuit breaker trips, wiring damage, short circuits, intermittent power losses and overheating components throughout its roughly 11‑year service life.
One serious event cited was a fire in the critical P100 power distribution panel in January 2022 during a descent into Frankfurt Airport, which inspectors later found had caused extensive damage requiring full panel replacement.
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View AllThe foundation also says similar failures have been reported in other Boeing 787 jets around the world, including those registered in the United States, Canada and Australia, and that focusing only on pilot actions in the Ahmedabad crash could distract from deeper underlying problems.
Boeing has consistently maintained that the 787 is safe and reliable, noting that the aircraft type had flown for nearly 15 years before the Ahmedabad tragedy without a fatal accident, and has declined to comment directly on the safety group’s claims.
India’s civil aviation authorities and Air India have not publicly responded to the allegations, and the official probe into the crash continues. The AAIB’s preliminary findings last year noted that shortly after takeoff, the aircraft’s fuel control switches were moved from “run” to “cut‑off,” leading to loss of engine power, and a cockpit voice recording captured confusion between the pilots over that change.
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