The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s best-selling huge physique passenger jet, is the corporate’s second-most scrutinised plane after the 737 MAX, which has confronted a number of groundings following deadly crashes and technical points. But regardless of the extreme oversight, particularly in early years, the Dreamliner had maintained a largely protected file—till Air India flight 171 crashed close to Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, killing 241 folks and leaving one survivor.
Early Troubles
The 787 Dreamliner, launched in 2011, was briefly grounded between January and April 2013 following incidents of fireside attributable to lithium-ion thermal runaway. Boeing resumed deliveries solely after redesigning the battery system. Then, beginning in 2019, the plane was hit by critical quality-control points, prompting a halt in deliveries that lasted from 2021 to March 2023.
Then, in April 2024, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched an investigation after former Boeing engineer–turned–whistleblower Sam Salehpour alleged that sections of the 787 Dreamliner’s fuselage had been improperly mounted, warning the jets may come aside as they age. The next month, the FAA introduced that Boeing was “reinspecting all 787 airplanes nonetheless throughout the manufacturing system” and would develop plans to evaluate these already in service.
Since its introduction, Boeing has delivered 27 787-8 Dreamliners to Indian airways—all to Air India, with the final 5 delivered in 2017. A bigger, longer-range variant, the 787-9 Dreamliner, noticed six deliveries to Vistara—now a part of Air India—between 2020 and 2024, firm knowledge reveals. Boeing is about to ship one other 20 787-9s to Air India, that are at the moment listed amongst its unfulfilled orders.
Now, with authorities searching for the AI-171’s blackbox and the Plane Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) set to research the Ahmedabad crash, a primary for the 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s prized mannequin is about to return underneath renewed scrutiny.
MAX Issues
The 737 MAX has been a extra well-liked alternative in India, with 63 deliveries over the past decade—all between 2018 and Could 2025—led by Air India (48), Akasa Air (8) and SpiceJet (7). Unfulfilled 737 MAX orders embrace 142 for Air India, 198 for Akasa Air, and 129 for SpiceJet.
The complete 737 MAX fleet was grounded worldwide between March 2019 and November 2020 after two deadly crashes—Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airways Flight 302—each occurring shortly after takeoff. The crashes, which killed 346 folks, had been traced to a defective flight stabilisation system that acted on faulty sensor knowledge.
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In January 2024, the FAA once more grounded 171 737 MAX jets after a door plug indifferent mid-flight on an Alaska Airways aircraft, triggering heightened regulatory scrutiny for a number of months.
Following the incident, the FAA, referring to 737 MAX, said: “We are going to proceed our aggressive oversight of the corporate and guarantee it fixes its systemic production-quality points.” Two months later, an audit of Boeing’s Renton, Washington manufacturing line “recognized non-compliance points in Boeing’s manufacturing course of management, elements dealing with and storage, and product management.”
In Could 2024, Boeing submitted a corrective motion plan outlining steps similar to strengthening its Security Administration System, enhancing provider oversight, and growing inner audits of its manufacturing system.
Later, in December 2024—shortly after a machinists’ strike ended—FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker visited the Renton facility and famous: “As anticipated, Boeing has made progress executing its complete plan in these areas, and we are going to proceed to intently monitor the outcomes as they start to ramp up manufacturing following the strike.”
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For now, the FAA continues to concern airworthiness certificates for each newly produced 737 MAX.
