An Air India aircraft, identical to the one involved in a tragic crash last week, had to execute an emergency landing in 2023 following a mid-air engine failure.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner returned an hour after departing on a 14-hour journey from Mumbai to London, as reported by India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Pilots flying the plane in August 2023 reported hearing a ‘loud thud’ immediately before the left engine lost power due to poor maintenance.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of last Thursday’s accident, mentioned hearing a ‘loud noise’ just before the crash of Air India flight AI171. He was seated in 11A, close to the plane’s left engine.

Investigators looking into the 2023 engine failure say the Boeing’s left-hand engine, made by the US company General Electric, failed after a turbine blade was incorrectly bolted and then broke loose.

They concluded the ‘release’ of a high-pressure compressor blade ‘had occurred due to improper installation of locking lugs of HPC Stage 10’.

The DGCA was also found to have less than half the staff in place with Indian parliamentarians saying three months ago they had ‘fundamental concerns’. 

A report by the Indian parliament’s transport committee found of 1,633 available posts only 754 were filled – leaving 879 vacancies.

It read: ‘The committee notes with serious concern the high number of vacancies across key aviation regulatory and operational bodies, particularly in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and the Airports Authority of India.

‘The DGCA, responsible for aviation safety and regulatory oversight, has a vacancy rate exceeding 53 per cent, raising fundamental concerns about its capacity to enforce aviation safety standards effectively.’

It added nearly 35 per cent of jobs were unfilled at the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security – tasked with maintaining aviation security – and this was ‘posing risks to the robustness of security oversight at airports’.

Concerns were also voiced by the Airports Authority of India, which manages critical airport infrastructure and air traffic services, that unfilled job vacancies were impacting operational efficiency and airport expansion.

A spokesman said: ‘The committee is deeply concerned that chronic understaffing in these institutions could undermine safety, security, and service delivery standards, particularly as air traffic volumes continue to rise.

‘The committee urges the Ministry of Civil Aviation to expedite the recruitment process to fill vacancies across DGCA, BCAS, and AAI, ensuring that regulatory oversight, security enforcement, and airport operations are not compromised.’

Last Friday, the DGCA issued a notice to Air India ordering more inspections of all of its 787‑8 and 787‑9 fleet with GE engines.

This included an inspection of the fuel monitoring systems, a test of the electronic engine control, a check of the hydraulics and a review of take‑off parameters.

There is also a requirement to carry out ‘power assurance checks’ on each airliner within two weeks.