Aviation safety campaigners in the United States say they have evidence that a plane that crashed in India last year had previously suffered a series of technical failures, including an in-flight fire.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed on 12 June, shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad en route to London, killing 260 people.
The Foundation for Aviation Safety, a US campaign group, has sent a presentation to the US Senate outlining its findings, which it claims are based on documents that have come to light.
The official investigation into the accident is ongoing. However, an interim report published in July sparked widespread speculation and controversy, with Boeing declining to comment.
The aircraft involved in the accident, registered as VT-ANB, was one of the earliest 787s built, first flying in late 2013 and entering service with Air India in early 2014.
According to the Foundation for Aviation Safety, documents reveal the plane experienced system failures from its very first day in service, allegedly caused by a wide and confusing variety of engineering, manufacturing, quality, and maintenance problems.
Failures included electronics and software faults, circuit breaker issues, wiring damage, short circuits, loss of electrical current, and overheating of power system components.
In January 2022, there was a fire in the P100 power distribution panel, a critical component that distributes high-voltage power throughout the aircraft. The damage was severe enough that the entire panel had to be replaced.
The 787 relies more heavily on electrical systems than previous generations of passenger aircraft, which has led to early issues, including a major battery fire on a Japan Airlines plane in 2013, prompting temporary grounding.
The Foundation's report was forwarded to the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which previously held hearings on Boeing's broken safety culture. The official investigation is also being conducted by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), with involvement from American officials, as the aircraft and its engines were designed and built in the U.S.
A month after the accident, the AAIB published a preliminary report, which highlighted that, moments after take-off, the plane's fuel control switches were improperly positioned, depriving the engines of fuel, causing loss of thrust. This section of the report sparked suggestions that pilot error may have caused the crash, drawing criticism and calls for attention to technical problems instead.
Ed Pierson, head of the Foundation for Aviation Safety and a vocal critic of Boeing's safety standards, has described the preliminary report as woefully inadequate. The Foundation's concerns extend beyond this incident, examining reports of failures in other 787 aircraft across the U.S. and abroad.
Boeing has consistently stated that the 787 is a safe aircraft with a strong operational record and has not commented further as the investigation is ongoing.
