An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport on June 12, killing 241 on board and dozens on the ground. Among the uproar, a tweet from Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk has resurfaced, in which he criticized Boeing’s management structure. In his post, Musk said: “Although Boeing got $4.2 billion to develop an astronaut capsule and SpaceX only got $2.6 billion, SpaceX finished 4 years sooner. Note, the crew capsule design of Dragon 2 has almost nothing in common with Dragon 1. Too many non‑technical managers at Boeing.”
Musk’s post then highlighted Boeing’s $4.2 billion investment in the Starliner spacecraft, contrasting it with SpaceX’s (owned by Elon Musk) $2.6 billion for the Dragon 2, which completed four years earlier despite a near-complete redesign. His post hinted at inefficiencies in Boeing’s management structure as also reported in a 2023 NASA audit on commercial crew program cost overruns.
Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet to undergo enhanced safety inspection: DGCA
In the aftermath of the deadly crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed all Boeing Dreamliner 787/9 fleet of Air India equipped with Genx engines to undergo additional maintenance and safety checks with immediate effect in coordination with the concerned regional DGCA offices. The DGCA circular directs Air India to do the following:
1. One time check before departure of flight from India w.e.f 15.06.2025,(00:00)Hrs Onwards.
a) Inspection of Fuel Parameter Monitoring and associated system checks.
b) Inspection of Cabin air compressor and associated systems.
c) Electronic Engine Control- System Test.
d) Engine Fuel Driven Actuator-Operational Test and oil system check.
e) Serviceability check of Hydraulic system
f) Review of Take-off parameters.
2. ‘Flight Control Inspection’ to be introduced in transit inspection till further notice.
3. Power assurance checks to be carried out within two weeks.
4. Closure of maintenance action based upon the review of repetitive snags during the last 15 days on 8787-8/9 aircraft at the earliest.
The report of the above checks is to be submitted to DGCA.
Black Box recovered for Air India Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner
Meanwhile, authorities have successfully recovered one of two Black Boxes from the London-bound Air India plane. The flight data recorder was found on the rooftop of a medical college hostel that the aircraft struck during the tragedy.Confirming the recovery within 28 hours of the crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) marked a crucial breakthrough in determining what caused Flight AI-171 to issue a Mayday call and crash just 11 seconds after becoming airborne. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu announced the recovery on social media, calling it “an important step forward in the investigation” that will “significantly aid the enquiry into the incident.” The second Black Box, located in the aircraft’s front section, remains missing and search operations continue.
