Air India | Pakistan

India’s government is urgently inspecting all Boeing 787s after a devastating Air India crash that claimed at least 279 lives this week, the country’s aviation minister said on Saturday, adding that the authorities were investigating all possible causes. The aviation regulator on Friday ordered Air India to conduct additional maintenance checks on its Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft equipped with GEnx engines, including assessments of certain take-off parameters, electronic engine control tests and engine fuel-related checks. “We have also given the order to do the extended surveillance of the 787 planes. There are 34 in our Indian fleet,” aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu told a media briefing in New Delhi, without saying if the checks will apply to all Indian airlines. “Eight have already been inspected and with immediate urgency, all of them are going to be done.” Air India operates 33 Boeing 787s, while rival airline IndiGo has one, according to data from Flightradar24. The planes, however, have not been grounded...

• Antiterrorism experts join investigation process • Govt considers ‘grounding’ Boeing-787 fleet; regulator orders safety checks • One black box found from building’s rooftop • New Delhi-bound flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after bomb threat AHMEDABAD: The investigation into the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, a source said on Friday, as the aviation regulator ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing-787 fleet. The Boeing 787-8 Drea­m­liner with 242 people on board bound for Gatwick Airport south of London began losing height moments after take-off over a residential area of the western city of Ahmedabad and erupted in a huge fireball as it hit buildings below. Only one passenger survived and local media reported that as many as 24 people on the ground were also killed as the plane crashed onto a medical college hostel during the lunch hour. It was the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade. On Friday, a sou...

An Air India flight from Phuket in Thailand to India’s capital New Delhi received an onboard bomb threat on Friday and made an emergency landing on the island, airport authorities said. All 156 passengers on flight AI 379 had been escorted from the plane, in line with emergency plans, an Airports of Thailand official said. The aircraft took off from Phuket airport bound for the Indian capital at 9:30am (7:30am PKT) on Friday, but made a wide loop around the Andaman Sea and landed back on the southern Thai island, according to flight tracker Flightradar24. Screengrab of flight path of the affected flight. — FlightRadar24 The incident follows the crash of an Air India flight in Ahmedabad on Thursday shortly after takeoff, in which more than 265 people were killed. AOT did not provide details on the bomb threat. Air India did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Indian airlines and airports were inundated with hoax bomb threats last year, with nearly 1,000 hoax calls and messages received in the fir...

One person survived as over 200 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, authorities said, in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade. The plane came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour. It was headed for Gatwick Airport, south of the British capital. City police chief GS Malik told Reuters that 204 bodies had been recovered from the crash site. There were no reports of survivors being found, and the Indian Express newspaper said all 242 on board had perished, citing police. The majority of the people on board are feared dead, a top official in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation told The Print. Malik similarly said the same to the Associated Press, saying: “It appears there are no survivors.” He later told Indian news agency ANI that there was one survivor who was under treatment. View this post on Insta...

Top Pakistani leaders have expressed profound sorrow over the tragic Air India plane crash near Ahmedabad, India, which claimed the lives of 241 passengers.