Air India ex-crew allege dismissal for pointing out Dreamliner malfunction; write to PM Modi amid crash probe
New Delhi: Two former senior Air India flight attendants have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging they were wrongfully dismissed after refusing to alter their statements regarding a technical fault involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner door last year.
The allegations, reported by The Times of India, surface at a time when aviation safety is under intense scrutiny following the deadly crash of an Air India flight earlier this month.
Incident involved slide deployment at Heathrow in 2024
According to the report, the issue took place on May 14, 2024, after Air India flight AI-129 (Boeing 787 VT-ANQ) from Mumbai to London had docked at Heathrow and passengers had disembarked.
The flight attendants allege that the aircraft’s emergency slide raft deployed unexpectedly, even though the door was opened in 'manual mode' — a setting where the slide should not activate.
The slide is designed to deploy only when the door is set to 'armed' or 'automatic' mode.
The attendants said their original reports, which were supported by the flight's captain and cabin-in-charge, confirmed the slide malfunction.
However, they claim they were subsequently pressured by Air India’s management to revise their statements.
After refusing to do so, they were allegedly served show-cause notices and dismissed from service within 48 hours.
Letter sent on anniversary of AI-171 crash
In their letter to the Prime Minister, the attendants pointed out that their dismissal occurred exactly one year before the June 12, 2025, crash of Air India flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London, which killed over 270 people.
“We refused to change our statements despite considerable pressure exerted on us by higher authorities,” the letter stated, naming three senior officials within Air India.
They further claimed that the pilot later retracted his earlier support and stated that he had not been looking when the door was opened, contradicting his initial backing of the crew's version.
Allegations of cover-up by airline and DGCA
Both attendants, who served Air India for over two decades, also accused the airline and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of covering up the May 2024 incident.
They alleged that similar malfunctions involving Dreamliner aircraft were also suppressed.
Despite the seriousness of the fault, they said the DGCA launched only an “informal inquiry” and failed to release any findings.
They claimed key witnesses were excluded from the investigation.
A formal complaint had earlier been filed with the Central Vigilance Commission.
Crash black box sent to US for recovery
Meanwhile, as the investigation into the June 12 crash of Air India flight 171 continues, The Economic Times reported that the Indian government has sent the damaged black box of the aircraft to the United States for data retrieval.
The London-bound flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing all 270-plus people on board.
Due to severe external damage, investigators have been unable to extract critical data from the flight data recorder.
The black box is now being examined at the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) laboratory in Washington, with findings to be shared with India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
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