Why no safety warnings for B787 fleet despite AI 171 crash, US aviation group asks AAIB

The Foundation for Aviation Safety (FAS), a US aviation safety organization, has written to India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), raising concerns about the lack of interim safety recommendations for the Boeing 787 fleet following the Ahmedabad crash that claimed 260 lives. FAS claims it has received over 100 non-public documents related to the crashed Air India 171 aircraft (VT-ANB) and shared these with AAIB via a UK AAIB expert.

These documents outline chronic, systemic aircraft failures involving the airplane's electrical, electronic, and flight computer systems. Ed Pierson, FAS executive director, stated that withholding this information from the public is failing AAIB's objective of preventing future accidents through transparency. Pierson, a former Boeing employee, had previously warned about overworked and error-prone production teams at Boeing before founding FAS.

The AAIB has acknowledged receiving the documents and noting their examination, but has not issued any interim safety recommendations or warnings to the global aviation community regarding the B787 fleet.