New Delhi: The maharajas of Indian aviation have finally discovered for themselves that their gleaming new chariot — the snag-ridden Boeing 787 — is hardly the stuff dreams are made of.
Air India chairman Rohit Nandan and director general of civil aviation Prabhat Kumar were among 41 passengers on board AI's inaugural flight AI 155 to Moscow in the early hours of Friday. With much fanfare, their Dreamliner taxied to take-off. Minutes later, it was back at Terminal 3 building as the landing gear door (where wheels come in and go out of) developed a snag. It gave a signal that this door will not close once the wheels are retracted in air!
Meanwhile, another Dreamliner took off for Singapore as AI 380 (AI's answer to Singapore Airlines deploying Airbus A-380 on Delhi route) with 176 passengers onboard. After getting airborne, this brand new B-787's cooling did not work and the cabin got overheated. The pilots turned back.
With their CMD and DGCA chief at the airport, AI engineering staff tried their best to rectify the twin snags—which they couldn't even after working frantically for some hours. AI then deployed two other Dreamliners after a long delay.
18/07/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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Air India chairman Rohit Nandan and director general of civil aviation Prabhat Kumar were among 41 passengers on board AI's inaugural flight AI 155 to Moscow in the early hours of Friday. With much fanfare, their Dreamliner taxied to take-off. Minutes later, it was back at Terminal 3 building as the landing gear door (where wheels come in and go out of) developed a snag. It gave a signal that this door will not close once the wheels are retracted in air!
Meanwhile, another Dreamliner took off for Singapore as AI 380 (AI's answer to Singapore Airlines deploying Airbus A-380 on Delhi route) with 176 passengers onboard. After getting airborne, this brand new B-787's cooling did not work and the cabin got overheated. The pilots turned back.
With their CMD and DGCA chief at the airport, AI engineering staff tried their best to rectify the twin snags—which they couldn't even after working frantically for some hours. AI then deployed two other Dreamliners after a long delay.
18/07/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
