Air India has grounded three Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners for ‘extensive investigations’ after a crash killed 260 people earlier this year.
The horrific accident led to the deaths of 169 Indian nationals and 52 British citizens on the London-bound flight, while nineteen people on the ground were also killed.
The silent suspension of three long-haul Boeing jets comes after four serious in-flight incidents in the past six months.
Two of the aircraft are reportedly stationed overseas, and one in India. All three are understood to have come into service around the same time between 2012 and 2013.
It comes as India’s top court heard on Friday that a preliminary report on the Air India crash in June does not insinuate anything against the captain.
However, judges will hear a plea from the pilot’s father on Monday for an independent probe.
The plea by 91-year-old Pushkar Raj Sabharwal for an investigation by a panel of aviation experts, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, came weeks after he criticised the government investigation.
He said two officials from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau who visited him had implied that his son, pilot Sumeet Sabharwal, cut the fuel to the plane’s engine after take-off.
The government has denied the accusations, calling the investigation ‘very clean’ and ‘very thorough’.
India’s air accidents investigation body published an interim report earlier this year saying the plane’s fuel engine switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run to cutoff just after takeoff.
Briton Viswashkumar Ramesh was the sole survivor of the crash and has recently revealed he is still unable to speak to his family.
Footage shocked the world as he was seen walking away from burning wreckage with minor visible injuries, even as thick smoke poured into the sky.
But since returning to his home city of Leicester in England, Ramesh, who said he feels like the ‘luckiest man’ alive, has been struggling with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and can barely speak to his wife and four-year-old son.
Speaking publicly for the first time, he told BBC News: ‘Now I’m alone. I just sit in my room alone, not talking with my wife, my son. I just like to be alone in my house.’
His younger brother, Ajay, had been sitting a few rows away and died in the crash. He emotionally added: ‘I lost my brother as well. My brother is my backbone. Last few years, he was always supporting me.’
Ramesh previously explained from his hospital bed in India how he freed himself from seat 11A and crawled out of a gap in the fuselage. He even met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recovery there.
During the interview, he broke down several times as he spoke alongside Leicester community figure Sanjiv Patel and spokesman Radd Seiger.
Asked about his memory of the crash, he said: ‘I can’t say anything about that now.’
He described the pain he and his family are now forced to deal with.
‘Physically, mentally, also my family as well, mentally… my mum last four months, she is sitting every day outside the door, not talking, nothing,’ he said.
‘Every day is painful for the whole family.’
The survivor also spoke about ongoing injuries, saying he has constant pain in his leg, shoulder, knee and back. ‘When I walk, not walk properly, slowly, slowly, my wife help,’ he said. He has not worked or driven since the crash.
His advisers say he received a PTSD diagnosis in India but has had no treatment since he came back to Britain.
Air India has paid £21,500 in interim compensation, which the family accepted, but they say it does not cover urgent needs.
Mr Seiger said the airline ignored or declined three meeting requests, adding: ‘Please come and sit down with us so that we can work through this together to try and alleviate some of this suffering.’
The airline, owned by Tata Group, said senior figures have been meeting families and that it has already offered to arrange a meeting with Mr Ramesh’s representatives.
The BBC reports that it said: ‘We will continue to reach out and we very much hope to receive a positive response.’
