Silence the speculation and keep your head fresh. This is the message that Natarajan Chandrasekaran, president of Air India and Tata Sons, wanted to convey the Indian conglomerate that controls the airline.
While the black boxes of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed last Thursday killing at least 270 dead, the manager gave a context context on an Indian television channel to rule out certain scenarios.
He indicates that “the two plane engines had a correct maintenance history. The right engine of the plane was new and settled last March, while the left was reviewed in 2023, the next review was scheduled for next December.”
Currently, researchers are examining the debris and disappointing the engraved flight data and the audio recordings of the cabin from the black boxes of the plane to rebuild the last moments of the flight and determine the cause of the incident.
“Wait” for the decipher of black boxes
“There are many speculations and theories. But what I know for the moment is that this particular plane has an impeccable story,” says Natarajan Chandrasekaran, warning against any hurried conclusion.
“All experts tell me that the black box and recorders will certainly reveal the story. So we just have to wait,” he added.
However, Kishore Chilta, former researcher at the Aviation Accident Office of India, told the BBC that the condition of an airplane engine is not necessarily linked to its age, especially in the case of Genx-1B engines that equip the Boeing 787-8.
“The motor age has no impact on its state of health, especially for Genx-1B engines. In other words, it is not because an engine is new that is necessarily in good condition, and vice versa,” he said.
Unlike the oldest models, Genx-1B engines, manufactured by GE Aospace, do not follow a fixed maintenance review or calendar. They are equipped with a system called Digital Motor Control of the Complete Authority (FADEC) that permanently monitors the performance of the state and the engine. The decision to maintain or replace the engine is based on these data and physical inspections.
Current inspections
While the survey continues, Air India also announced a 15% reduction in its international operations in its understandings until mid -July, to deal with the consequences of the accident.
In a statement published on Wednesday, the airline said that this decision was motivated by “aggravating circumstances”, in particular reinforced security controls, greater caution of crew and land personnel, and tensions in the Middle East.
In addition, the airline said that inspections had been carried out in 26 of its 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9, all “authorized to recover the service.”
The remaining devices should be examined in the next few days, said Air India, added that the company’s Boeing 777 fleet would also be subject to “reinforced security controls.”
Source: BFM TV
