00:00On June 12, the Meghani Nagar area of Ahmedabad was sent into shock when an Air India Boeing
00:06787-8 Dreamliner crashed.
00:09The flight, which was bound for London, crashed shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhai
00:14Patel International Airport.
00:16This is the first time a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner has crashed.
00:22The aircraft was hailed as a revolution in aviation technology.
00:26But behind this sleek design and long-haul promise lies a history of serious warnings.
00:33The Air India Dreamliner that went down in Ahmedabad had clocked over 41,000 flying hours
00:40and nearly 8,000 takeoffs and landings.
00:44It's too early to say what caused the crash.
00:47But this accident has rekindled concerns about the 787's reliability.
00:52Just last year, the US Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, ordered urgent inspections of the
01:01cockpit seats on Dreamliners.
01:03Why?
01:04Because the captain's seat on one aircraft lurched forward mid-flight, disconnecting the autopilot.
01:11The jet plunged.
01:13A Boeing quality engineer, Sam Sahalpur, also came forward last year with disturbing claims.
01:19He said Boeing cut corners, drilling debris was left inside joints, and composite materials
01:26were deformed.
01:27He warned of long-term reliability issues.
01:31The FAA launched an investigation again.
01:35These were not isolated warnings.
01:38In 2021, engineers flagged excessive gaps between fuselage panels outside FAA-approved limits.
01:46Boeing had to halt deliveries and rework every Dreamliner in production.
01:52The Dreamliner's troubles began within the decade it took flight.
01:56January 2013, a Japan Airlines flight in Boston was cancelled due to a fuel leak.
02:03Days later, United Airlines found wiring issues near the main battery.
02:08The same month after fires in two aircraft, one onboard an all-Nippon Airways plane in flight,
02:15and another on the same Japan Airlines plane that had earlier reported a fuel leak, while
02:21it was parked at Boston Logan.
02:24The FAA grounded the entire fleet.
02:27Boeing had to redesign its lithium-ion battery system.
02:31Fast forward to 2021, a British Airways 787-8 had its nose gear collapse while parked at London
02:39Heathrow.
02:40No one was on board, but images of the Dreamliner slumped forward made international headlines.
02:47With over 190 aircraft in service and an average fleet age of 8.4 years, Air India has invested
02:55heavily in Boeing's vision.
02:57But now, that vision is under the microscope again.
03:01As investigations continue into the Ahmedabad crash, one thing is clear.
03:07The Dreamliner's troubled past may no longer be behind it.
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