Flight AI171 of the Air India he fell at 13:38 local (10:08 in Italy) of 12 June 2025with 242 people on board. Having fallen on a residential neighborhood, the victims are currently at least 290while at least one person is survivor. According to what the plane is reconstructed, directed to the airport of London Gatwickcrashed into a residential area not far from the airport of Ahmedabad (in western India), losing control after just 1 minute from take -off and precipitating after about 5 minutes. The company has not yet clarified the causes that may have caused the crash.
The aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamlinerone of the most recent models e modern inside the Boeing fleet, which in the meantime is dealing with a collapse of the title on the stock exchange which has already reached the -8%.
Among other things, in the last 5 years there have been three engineers who have reported alleged anomalies in the construction of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner model, linked in particular to the FUSOLIERA structure: according to what reported, in fact, the merger operations of cylindrical components of the fuselage could damage the composite materialswith the risk of serious structural faults. Will however be up to the authorities to establish any irregularities in the construction process, repeatedly denied by the tests carried out by Boeing.
The technical characteristics of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is one of the most modern aircraft existing on the market: it is a plane launched 14 years ago and equipped with Two Motors in Turboventolaa type of engine that uses a compressed air flow to generate power. Its main strengthhowever, lies in efficiency: being formed for the 50% from composite materials, like the carbon fiberwhich make the aircraft more light and therefore able to consume up to 25% less fuel Compared to previous models, according to what is reported by Boeing herself.
Among the technical characteristics, in fact, the ability to travel stands out Long non-stop flightswith a range of 13,620 kmwhich is equivalent to a direct flight from Buenos Aires (Argentina) a Beijing (China).
The Dreamliner, which last April 30 passed the billion passengers total, was also designed to allow the maximum degree of comfort to passengers: specifically, the use of composite materials Like carbon fiber it made it possible to design the fuselage as a series of (few) connected cylinders Together. All this reduces stress on structure of the fuselage, thus allowing you to have windows wider for passengers.
In addition to this, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner has in fact:
- a length of 56.72 meters;
- aHeight of 16.92 meters;
- awing amplitude Of 60.12 meters;
- a cruise speed Of 903 km/h;
- a Total capacity Of 252 passengers, crew included.
Specifically, the model crashed this morning in India was a 787-8 Dreamliner inaugurated in October of 2016 and produced in the factory of Charlestonin the United States.
The problem with the fuselage: the complaints of the three engineers
It must be specified that i Technical problems They are rather common for planes, especially if they are used to travel long distances. Already in 2011 and 2019 some models of the Boeing 787 had undergone small failures, before with one fuel loss For a plane part of the Japan Airlines and then with a engine in failure For a model of the Norwegian company fleet. In both cases, however, the situation had been resolved quickly without particular damage or injured among passengers.
The real problems for the Boeing company, however, seem to have started between the 2018 and 2019after two big Air accidents: the first occurred on 29 October 2018, when a Boeing 737 Max of the flight Lion Air 610 crashed into the sea of Java with about 189 dead; The second occurred on March 10, 2019, when the Boeing 737 Max of the Ethhiopian Airlines fell causing causing 157 dead.
From that moment on, several testimonies on Boeing have started to emerge and, in particular, on Building methods of some models, including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Specifically, the testimonies of Three whistleblower: Last year the statements of the former Boeing engineer made Sam Salehpourwhich in particular reported a problem related to junction of the cylindrical components of the fuselage, set together by a special plate positioned on the cylinders’ joints. According to his opinion, the force exercised for the welding operation could in fact damage the composite materials of the fuselage, with the risk of serious structural faults.
Boeing replied explaining that i tests carried out they did not demonstrate the existence of any problem of safety For the 787 Dreamliner model.
Before him, two other engineers had denounced similar situations: in 2019 John Barnett He had reported that the components used for the construction of the 787 would be in many cases of lower quality than the standards. Similar criticism on assembly and maintenance processes also arrived in 2023 by the engineer Richard Cuevas.
ATTENTION: Of course, the criticisms moved by these three engineers do not necessarily mean that these problems exist actually, nor that they are the cause Behind the Tragic flight accident AI171 In India: Establishing any irregularities from Boeing will be the task of the authorities, who deals with regulating all civil air traffic in the USA. The accident, in fact, could be due to a human error pilots or other reasons not related to the design and construction of the aircraft.
