Air India has cancelled its Delhi to Paris flight, AI 143, on Tuesday after “mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue”, the airline said in a statement. Because of this, the return flight from Paris to Delhi, AI 142, scheduled for Wednesday, has also been cancelled.

A spokesperson from the airline said, “The issue flagged by pre-flight checks is being addressed,” but since the delay would cause the flight to miss the night-time operation deadline at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, the flight was cancelled.

The airline added, “We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers and are making alternative arrangements... We are providing hotel accommodation and also offering full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling, if opted for by the passengers.”

This is the second Air India flight cancelled within a short span of time. Just hours earlier, the Ahmedabad to London Gatwick service was also cancelled. The reason given was “unavailability of aircraft due to airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks”.

Crash of AI 171 raises concerns over dreamliners

These cancellations come only days after the tragic crash of Air India’s AI 171 flight. The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick. It crashed just seconds after taking off, killing 241 of the 242 people on board. Videos showed the plane hitting buildings near the airport, including a college hostel, before bursting into flames.

As a sign of respect, Air India has now retired the flight number AI 171.

Since the crash, more technical problems have been reported. Three other India-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights had to return to their starting airports. These included:

  • A Hong Kong to Delhi Air India flight (AI-315) that returned 15 minutes after take-off due to a “technical issue”.
  • A Frankfurt-to-Hyderabad flight.
  • A London to Chennai flight.

Also, on Tuesday, another Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai, with a stop in Kolkata, faced a technical issue. Passengers were disembarked in Kolkata. PTI reported that the flight had a problem in the left engine.

Investigation underway into AI 171 crash

The government has confirmed that the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder from the crashed AI 171 flight have been found. Officials said the data is now being studied to find out what caused the crash.

A high-level committee has been formed to oversee the full investigation.

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