Boeing Warns Air India On 787s

: Aug 2, 2014 - : 11:28 pm

To read the full article, please log in or enter your email below:

NEW DELHI: Boeing has altered the operating procedures of Air India's 787 aircraft and warned the airline from flying the aircraft near thunderstorms to reduce the risk of icing on the engines and enhance safety. "Boeing has issued an advisory to Air India to avoid flying the B-787 aircraft near high-level thunderstorms due to an increased risk of icing on the General Electric GEnx engines used on it," India's Junior Minister for Civil Aviation G M Siddeshwara says in parliament. According to Boeing, several engine power-loss and damage events have occurred in convective weather above the altitudes typically associated with icing conditions. Research has shown that strong convective weather (thunderstorm activity) can lift high concentrations of moisture to high altitudes where it can freeze into very small ice crystals, perhaps as small as 40 microns (the size of flour grains). These are the crystals that can affect an engine when flying through convective weather. The industry is using the phrase "ice crystal icing" to describe these icing conditions, and to differentiate it from icing conditions due to super-cooled liquid. "The new procedure fully complied with all operating standards and does not compromise flight safety," the minister says. Since its induction, the 787 fleet of Air India has been facing a series of snags. Apart from the technical glitches, several incidents of windshield cracks have also been reported on the aircraft not only in the fleet of Air India but other airlines such as All Nippon Airways and Ethiopian Airlines. Recently, two of Air India's 787s reported serious faults just before take off from New Delhi for Birmingham and Sydney and had to be grounded. Boeing has assured Air India that all the "old windshields shall be replaced by new ones with improved design features," the minister says. However, he also says that the "cracking of the outer glass ply does not affect the safety of the airplane due to the windshield's fail safe (multiple-layer) construction". Air India has so far spent about $1,805 million on 16 B-787 aircraft purchased from Boeing since 2012-13. While six of these aircraft were delivered on 2012-13, seven were inducted in 2013-14 and three so far in 2014-15. However, Air India has deferred the induction of the 16th 787 into its fleet as the aircraft experienced technical trouble during recent test flights in Seattle headquarters of the U.S.-based manufacturer. The national carrier, which has ordered 27 of these latest airplanes, currently has 15 of them in its fleet and is expecting deliveries of three more till the year end. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju recently said the national carrier’s 787 fleet did 9,902 take-offs till June 2014, of which around 318 faced service delays due to technical snags. Soon after taking over, Raju had hinted at reviewing the need to buy aircraft, including the 27 Boeing 787s for Air India. “Aircraft have been bought and sold. We need to see why they were bought and sold,” he had said. Early July, Air India had announced its intention to sell and leaseback five Boeing 787 aircraft, in addition to the seven that have already undergone the sale transaction. The airline is hoping to raise around $600 million during the current financial year through the sale to clear off the bridge loans taken against these aircraft.