A stark warning made by a Boeing whistleblower has resurfaced after a London-bound passenger plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India.
The Air India plane, carrying 242 passengers and crew members, took off at 1.38pm local time only to begin plummeting 30 seconds later.
The Boeing 787 hit the top floor of a medical college a mile southwest of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport before crashing.
Follow Metro’s blog for live coverage and updates from the Air India crash
Air India said that the plane’s passengers and crew members included 169 Indians, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian.
Just one person, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, is believed to have survived.
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Footage showed the 787, also called a Dreamliner, skid as it went down, damaging buildings before bursting into flames.
Up to 80 students were inside the dining hall on the top floor of BJ Medical College when the plane hit, killing five people.
It was not immediately clear why the plane crashed, with air accident officials from Britain travelling to support their Indian counterparts.
Sam Salehpour, an engineer at Boeing for over a decade, alleged last year that Boeing ‘took shortcuts’ while manufacturing the wide-body jet to speed up production.
The whistleblower claimed that the 787’s fuselage, the aircraft’s body, could break apart mid-flight after thousands of trips.
He testified: ‘I have analysed Boeing’s own data to conclude that the company is taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 program that may significantly reduce the airplane safety and the lifecycle.’
He said this was because the enormous parts that make up a fuselage were made by different manufacturers, so they didn’t properly fit together.
Salehpour told a Senate panel: ‘I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align.
‘By jumping up and down, you’re deforming parts so that the holes align temporarily… and that’s not how you build an airplane.
‘Boeing has failed to make any meaningful changes to the underlying production processes to avoid defects which could pose a serious safety risk.’
When it comes to air travel, Salehpour added, ‘the size of a human hair can be a matter of life and death’.
‘These planes are being flown with a ticking time bomb,’ he said in an interview earlier this year.
Boeing conceded that manufacturing changes were made to the Dreamliner, but tests determined there were no ‘immediate issues’.
The company said at the time it was ‘fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner’, adding: ‘These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft.’
The American Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Salehpour’s allegations. Salehpour’s lawyers wrote in a letter to the US Department of Transport today asking for the agency’s findings to be released.
The Dreamliner, first delivered in 2011, is one of Boeing’s most popular planes. It is more fuel-efficient than many other long-haul aircraft because it is made of composite materials, such as lightweight carbon and glass fibre, over hefty metals.
Flying tens of thousands of feet above sea level subjects these materials to stress and causes what engineers call fatigue, compromising safety.
But the Dreamliner has caused headaches for Boeing bosses over the years, such as when a door panel blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight last January.
The crash in Ahmedabad marks the first fatal accident involving a 787, according to the Aviation Safety Network. The plane was over a decade old, Flightradar24 records show.
Boeing’s annual summary of incidents and accidents in April said no Dreamliners have ever been destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said: ‘Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad.
‘I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.’
Aviation expert ‘can’t rule out security issues’
Julian Bray, an aviation security expert, told Metro: ‘We can’t rule out security issues. It is very unusual for a Boeing Dreamliner to crash like this on takeoff.
‘This is pure speculation on my behalf, but the crash is near a conflict zone.’
Mr Bray is referring to the recent tensions between Pakistan and India, which sparked fear of an all-out war last month.
Ahmedabad is around 730km south of the India-Pakistan border, where small skirmishes have been reported recently.
‘We do know that the pilot issued a mayday call shortly after takeoff,’ Mr Bray added.
‘There have been crashes involving Boeing 787-8 planes before.’
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