First Dreamliner crash: Flight AI171 tragedy and Boeing's share price plunges
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lost control shortly after take-off, generating the first accident for the model and negatively affecting Boeing's share value. The accident led to the tragedy of flight AI171. There is a risk of significant financial consequences for the company
by Mara Monti
3' min read
3' min read
Another devastating accident bears the number of flight AI171, which was heading from Ahmedabad in the Gujarat region to London Gatwick Airport. The aircraft involved, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of the national airline Air India with 242 people on board including 12 cabin crew, was registered under the number VT-ANB: according to FlightRadar24, contact was lost with the aircraft at 13:38, less than a minute after take-off, at an altitude of 625 feet. The aircraft, which mounts General Electric engines, had been delivered to the Indian company in 2014 after leaving Boeing's Seattle facilities, with the serial number MSN-36279 and had accumulated 38,267 flight hours with about 8,000 landings and takeoffs.
The plane had departed from the Indian airport of Sardar Vallabhai Patelalle and was scheduled to arrive in London Gatwick at 18:25 local time. The same aircraft was due to return to Goa shortly afterwards. According to initial reconstructions, the pilots launched May Day, but received no response from the control tower. The analysis of the black box, which was reportedly found intact, is now awaited.
Meanwhile, Boeing is working to gather information on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, a statement said. This is the first accident for the Dreamliner, which began commercial flight in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The aircraft involved in the accident first flew in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, according to Flightradar24. There are 1,148 variants of the Boeing 787 in service worldwide, with an average age of 7.5 years compared to 11.5 years for the Air India aircraft involved in the accident.
On the stock exchange, Boeing shares are down 7.8 per cent and dragging down all airline stocks with the index down 7 per cent.
Air India has a fleet of 34 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in service and another 20 on order, used for long-haul routes such as between India and Europe non-stop. India is experiencing a boom in air transport with traffic growth doubling every year. To cope with the demand, the carrier has expanded its schedule of connections to London Gatwick whose total number to and from the London airport is 17 flights per week. The airline currently connects five Indian cities to London Gatwick: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa and Kochi and Bangalora. Air India also flies to London Heathrow from New Dehli with more than 30 flights per week and six flights per week to and from Birmingham.
