‘Smoke Coming Out of My Seat’: Five Days Before Ahmedabad Crash, Air India Flight to Paris Returned to Delhi

New Delhi: While the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday (June 17) said that surveillance conducted on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet “did not reveal any major safety concerns” in the aftermath of the surveillance on the carrier’s Boeing 787 fleet, concerns have been raised by passengers even before the fatal crash last week in which 241 of the 242 people on board died.

Five days prior to the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight bound for London crashed within a minute after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, another Air India flight from Delhi to Paris had to return to Delhi.

The flight AI 143 was diverted to Sharjah, where it halted for over 5 hours as maintenance checks were carried out after passengers reported smoke coming out of an electrical socket.

'It seemed like a wire was burning inside and that's why there was a lot of smoke'

“We took off and about 4 hours into the journey, we had possibly crossed Dubai by then, there was smoke coming out of my seat. There was a short circuit and all of a sudden there was a lot of smoke, there were no flames or fire. But it seemed like a wire was burning inside and that's why there was a lot of smoke,” said a passenger who was travelling in economy and did not want to be named.

“At first I thought it was from the air vent next to the seat, and we were using blankets so maybe the blanket had got caught or some plastic was stuck inside. But it was not so. They (crew) used fire extinguishers and we made an emergency landing at Sharjah. There we were not allowed to deplane as we sat in the plane for about 5 and a half hours as technicians came onboard. We were told then that they did not get all the clearances to land in Paris so we had to turn back to Delhi,” the passenger added.

Flight details on Flight Aware also shows that the flight departed from Delhi at 1:18pm for Paris and was diverted to Sharjah. It then departed from Sharjah at 9:43pm and returned to Delhi at 2:41am. The website also shows that the Air India flight was a Boeing 787-the same type of aircraft as the one that crashed in Ahmedabad just five days later.

Another passenger who was on board the same flight said that they had received “word of mouth” information on the flight that a “fire had broken out” in economy. While passengers were told that they would be allowed to disembark, they were not allowed to do so.

“Engineers came on board  the craft and fixed things for about an hour and a half. “No explanation (was provided) of why we continued to stay on the tarmac,” the passenger said,

“Plane was on the tarmac for 5.5 hours – with no decision-making evident to passengers. By then it was no longer possible to head to Paris (as landing past midnight there is not permitted). In a bizarre decision, the plane was turned back to Delhi ( a 4.5 hour flight back).”

“We chose AI in the hope that the change in management has improved things in the 3 years (and in fact as a show of support to the airline ). Was disappointed . After hearing about the Gatwick flight, I have my fingers crossed that we don’t have a B 787 craft for our flight back to Delhi in a few days. No point changing crew uniforms, meals and seat covers if safety is compromised,” said the passenger.

Sources close to Air India said that the flight was diverted to Sharjah due to a technical issue.

“There was some technical issue due to which the flight was diverted to Sharjah. When all the necessary checks were conducted the flight was ready to fly by the time the crew came under FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations, referring to regulations established by the DGCA in India to manage pilot and cabin crew fatigue and ensure flight safety),” the sources said.

“So the crew couldn't fly all the way to Paris. The checks took time because passenger safety had to be ensured. Unless all engineers are 100% sure, the flight could not have left.”

While the DGCA on Tuesday after a high level meeting with Air India and Air India Express said that  recent surveillance conducted on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns, it also said that it has recommended “the implementation of a more systematic and real-time defect reporting mechanism to ensure that operational and safety-critical departments receive timely updates.”

“The airline was advised to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations, ground handling units  and ensure availability of adequate spares to mitigate passenger delays resulting from such issues and strictly adhere to regulations,” the DGCA statement said.

66 Boeing 787 flights belonging to the Air India fleet have been cancelled between June 12 and 17

According to DGCA data, between June 12 and 17 a total of 66 Boeing 787 flights belonging to the Air India fleet have been cancelled.

On Wednesday (June 18), Air India announced that it is reducing international flights on widebody aircraft by 15% “until at least mid-July”.

“Given the compounding circumstances that Air India is facing, to ensure stability of our operations, better efficiency and to minimise inconvenience to passengers, Air India has decided to reduce its international services on widebody aircraft by 15 per cent for the next few weeks,” the airline statement said.

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