Air India crash puts spotlight on Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner safety and the company’s recent troubles

The Air India plane crash on Thursday is putting a renewed spotlight on Boeing, the manufacturer of the 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft that crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad with 242 passengers and crew on board. 

Boeing says the 787-8 is the aviation industry’s “best-selling passenger widebody of all time,” carrying more than 1 billion passengers since it was first delivered to airlines in 2011. 

What caused the crash remains unclear, and the 787-8 Dreamliner has generally had a good safety record. U.S. safety officials said they are heading to India to assist in the investigation of the accident. A senior Indian police official told the country’s national news agency, ANI, that one person survived the crash. 

“The NTSB will be leading a team of U.S. investigators travelling to India to assist the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau with its investigation into the crash of an Air India Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday,” the National Transportation Safety Board said in a social media post.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said the local government leads an investigation when it occurs in that country. “In the event assistance is requested, the NTSB is the official U.S. representative and the FAA provides technical support. We stand ready to launch a team immediately in coordination with the NTSB,” the agency said.

Boeing said it is in contact with Air India about the crash and stands “ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”

Shares of Boeing fell $10.32, or 4.8%, to $203.59 in early trading.

First crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

The Air India incident represents the first crash of a 787-8 Dreamliner, although the aircraft has been involved in previous investigations. 

The aircraft was designed by Boeing to handle longer nonstop routes, which the company says had opened up 425 new routes around the world since the aircraft was introduced.

The Federal Aviation Administration last year ordered inspections of the cockpit seats on the Dreamliners after one of the jets went into a dive when the captain’s seat lurched forward without warning and disconnected the plane’s autopilot system, according to The Associated Press.

Last year, a whistleblower’s allegations prompted the FAA to investigate his claims about assembly defects in the company’s 787 Dreamliner.

Sam Salehpour, a Boeing quality engineer, said “he observed shortcuts taken by Boeing” during assembly of the Dreamliner, “resulting in drilling debris left in interfaces and deformation of composite material,” CBS News reported. He also claimed to have witnessed issues with the 777 assembly process, according to a letter sent by Salehpour’s lawyers to the FAA last year.

For now, it is unclear if those reported issues are linked in any way to the Air India crash. 

The Dreamliner in the Air India crash

The aircraft involved in the Air India crash was first delivered to the airline in January 2014. It was on its way from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad to London’s Gatwick airport when it crashed shortly after its departure.

The plane had logged more than 41,000 hours of flying time, with almost 8,000 takeoffs and landings, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm. Air India operates 190 aircraft, with an average age of 8.4 years, Cirium said.

There are more than 1,100 Dreamliners operating across the globe today, with the aircraft having been in operation for an average of 7.5 years, Cirium noted. 

Other Boeing safety issues

The incident comes after a string of safety issues for Boeing, which has faced investigations and lawsuits for two crashes involving its 737 Max jetliners that killed a total of 346 people. 

In May, the aircraft manufacturer reached a $1.1 billion deal with the Department of Justice that allows it to avoid prosecution for the crashes, which occurred in 2018 and 2019.

An April 2025 analysis of commercial jet safety from Boeing shows that the airline industry has improved its overall safety record over the past several decades, although there was an increase in accidents in 2024. According to the report, there were 47 accidents last year across the airline industry, including 12 hull losses, and 187 fatalities.

A hull loss can indicate an airplane is completely destroyed or damaged and not repaired, the report said. It can also indicate an airplane is missing and the wreckage hasn’t been found. 

— With reporting by CBS News’ Kathryn Krupnik and Kris Van Cleave