Air India, the operator of the plane which tragically crashed last week, has cancelled even more flights. The flight to London Gatwick on June 12 ended in an explosion and the deaths of some 270 people.
In response, authorities are inspecting Air India’s fleet of 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and performing maintenance to prevent future incidents. This is believed to be the first 787 Dreamliner crash in the aircraft’s 16-year history. Because of this, many Air India flights are being cancelled, with seven being called off today alone. According to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, 66 Dreamliner flights have been cancelled since the crash.
Last week’s Air India disaster saw only one passenger aboard, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, surviving the crash.
The Brit, who has since been discharged from hospital, was occupying the 11A seat while returning to the UK with his brother.
His sibling, who was sitting in a different row, did not survive the incident, and Mr Ramesh attended his funeral earlier this week.
242 people were on board the doomed flight, including staff and passengers. Several people on the ground were also killed in the crash after the plane fell in a residential area.
A probe has now been launched into the incident, which saw the plane crash just seconds into its London-bound flight after taking off from Ahmedabad.
Investigators have recovered both sets of Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs) – the “black boxes” – from the Boeing 787 crash site.