Ahmedabad Crash: First-Ever Dreamliner Accident, Says Ex-Air India Director Jitender Bhargava

By A Staff Reporter

Ahmedabad, June 13 — As investigations into the Air India AI-171 crash continue, former Executive Director of Air India and aviation expert Jitender Bhargava has stressed the importance of allowing the probe to run its full course before drawing conclusions. He also confirmed that this was the first recorded accident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

“Every time an accident occurs, the standard operating procedures are activated—and that has happened in this case as well,” Bhargava stated. “Air India, as the airline; Boeing, as the manufacturer; and the DGCA, as the regulator, will naturally examine every aspect—what happened, why it happened, and so on.”

Bhargava pointed out that the aircraft’s commander had over 8,200 hours of flying experience, making it unlikely that the crash resulted from pilot inexperience.

“This is the first instance of a Dreamliner being involved in an accident,” he said. “As someone from the airline industry, my suggestion is that we must wait for the investigation to conclude and provide a clear explanation of where things went wrong and why the accident occurred.”

The tragic crash of the AI-171 flight in Ahmedabad on Thursday claimed 241 lives, leaving only one survivor, and has become one of the deadliest aviation disasters in India’s history.

Authorities from Air India, Boeing, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are working jointly with international experts to retrieve data from the black boxes and analyze flight parameters.