Plane Crash: Aviation Safety and Maintenance in Autopilot Mode?
Air India (Image credit LinkedIn)
A Spate of Technical Snags in Air India aircrafts Raises Alarming Questions on Aircraft Maintenance and DGCA Oversight
By KUMAR VIKRAM
NEW DELHI, June 17, 2025 – Air India has found itself in the eye of a growing storm as multiple technical snags and emergency incidents have rattled its operations and passengers’ confidence over the past week. The situation escalated further on Tuesday with two separate disruptions—both pointing toward a deeper malaise in aircraft maintenance standards and raising critical questions on the efficacy of regulatory oversight by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
In the early hours of Tuesday, passengers aboard Air India flight AI180 from San Francisco to Mumbai via Kolkata were jolted awake by a sudden order to deplane after a left engine fault was detected during a scheduled technical stop at Kolkata airport. The Boeing 777-200LR, a long-haul workhorse in Air India’s fleet, was grounded for over five hours. Engineers scrambled to assess the snag, while over 200 passengers were left in limbo—some reportedly complaining of poor communication and inadequate assistance.
Barely hours later, flight AI159 from Ahmedabad to London was cancelled at the last minute, citing “aircraft unavailability” and “additional safety checks” as reasons. The disruption not only affected international travellers but also led to the cancellation of the return flight (AI170) from London to Amritsar, causing a ripple effect of operational chaos.
A Week of Alarming Recurrences
These incidents are not isolated. Over the last week, Air India has faced a disturbing pattern of flight disruptions linked to technical issues:
June 16: AI315 (Hong Kong to Delhi) was forced to turn back mid-air due to a technical malfunction aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
June 16: An Air India Express flight from Delhi to Ranchi returned shortly after takeoff due to a suspected snag in the Boeing 737 Max 8.
June 12: The tragic AI171 crash involving a Dreamliner on the Ahmedabad-Gatwick route killed over 270 people, triggering worldwide concern over Air India’s fleet health and prompting calls for rigorous inspections.
Each incident has compounded the sense of unease around Air India’s safety culture, especially given the frequency and variety of the malfunctions—ranging from engine faults to airframe systems and pre-flight snags.
Questions on Maintenance and Regulatory Vigilance
The sequence of events underscores a larger systemic issue: is Air India struggling to maintain its aging wide-body fleet? Are routine safety protocols being compromised under operational pressure?
Many of Air India’s aircraft—particularly the older Boeing 777s and Dreamliners—have reportedly not undergone comprehensive overhauls since pre-pandemic years. This raises serious questions about Air India’s maintenance regime, especially under its current ownership by Tata Group, which had promised world-class service and fleet modernization.
More troubling is the role of DGCA, India’s aviation watchdog. Despite the evident pattern of malfunctions, the DGCA has yet to release a consolidated safety review or audit findings.
The convergence of technical failures, operational mismanagement, and regulatory inertia paints a grim picture. While Air India continues to assure passengers of its commitment to safety, the growing list of disrupted flights suggests that urgent reforms are needed in both fleet maintenance and regulatory enforcement.
(This is an opinion piece; views expressed solely belong to the author, who has covered civil aviation for over two decades)
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