N Chandrasekaran says one engine on plane was new

One of the engines of the Air India plane that crashed last week was new, while the other was not due for servicing until December, the airline’s chairman has said.

In an interview with an Indian news channel, N Chandrasekaran said that both engines of the aircraft had “clean” histories.

“The right engine was a new engine put in March 2025. The left engine was last serviced in 2023 and due for its next maintenance check in December 2025,” he told Times Now channel.

At least 270 people, most of them passengers, were killed last Thursday when AI171, a London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in western India.

Investigators are now sifting through debris and decoding recorded flight data and cockpit audio – from the aircraft’s black boxes which have been found – to deconstruct the flight’s final moments and determine the cause of the incident.

“There are a lot of speculations and a lot of theories. But the fact that I know so far is this particular aircraft, this specific tail, AI171, has a clean history,” Mr Chandrasekaran said, cautioning people against jumping to conclusions.

“I am told by all the experts that the black box and recorders will definitely tell the story. So, we just have to wait for that,” he added.

Kishore Chinta, a former investigator with India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, told the BBC that the condition of an aircraft engine is not necessarily linked to its age – particularly in the case of the Genx-1B engines used on the Boeing 787-8.

“The age of the engine has no bearing on the health of the engine, especially for the Genx-1B engines,” Mr Chinta said. In other words just because an engine is new, does not necessarily mean it is healthy, or vice versa.

Unlike older models, the Genx-1B engines, which are made by GE Aerospace, don’t follow a fixed overhaul or maintenance schedule. Instead, they are equipped with a system called the Full Authority Digital Engine Control or FADEC that continuously monitors engine health and performance. The decision to service or replace the engine is based on this data and physical inspections.

However, Mr Chinta pointed out that certain components of the engine, known as Life Limited Parts (LLPs), still have a fixed lifespan typically between 15,000 and 20,000 cycles.

“Every start and switch-off of the engine counts as one cycle,” he explained.

While the investigation continues, Air India has also announced a 15% cut in its international operations on wide-body aircraft until mid-July as it grapples with the fallout from the crash.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the airline said the decision was driven by “compounding circumstances” – including enhanced safety checks, increased caution by crew and ground staff and tensions in the Middle East.

Separately, the airline said that inspections have been completed on 26 of its 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft, all of which have been “cleared for service”.

India’s aviation regulator had ordered additional safety checks on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet after the deadly crash as a “preventive measure”.

The remaining aircraft are expected to be examined in the coming days, Air India said, adding that the airline’s Boeing 777 fleet would also “undertake enhanced safety checks”.

“The curtailments are a painful measure to take, but are necessary following a devastating event which we are still working through and an unusual combination of external events,” it said.

Meanwhile some experts say the crash will likely have an impact on Air India as it tries to transform from a troubled state-owned carrier to a privately-owned company.

Tata Sons, a conglomerate which also owns big brands like Tetley Tea and Jaguar Land Rover, brought the airline – formerly India’s national carrier – from the Indian government in 2022.

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