Probing windshield cracks on Air India Dreamliners: Boeing

Boeing is examining the issue of windshield cracks on its 787 Dreamliners after Air India experienced three such cases recently, a senior official of the aerospace firm said today.
Earlier this month, a Delhi-Kolkata plane was forced to return to the Indira Gandhi International airport here following a crack in the cockpit window. A similar issue was reported in December and in August as well.
"Air India went through that problem three years ago and we changed the model of the windshield. We are now studying the windows in the shop to understand what happened," said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president of sales Asia-Pacific and India at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

These recent instances, however, do not affect flight safety, he told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
"It is not good it happens, we are quite concerned (and) we look at it. But there are layers of protection on the windshield (and) there is certainly no issue of safety of the flight," Keskar said.
Air India had also reported several such incidents in 2013 and 2014, forcing the aeroplane manufacturer to make changes to the windows.

Commenting on the disinvestment process of Air India, Keskar said he was hopeful that the new buyer of the national carrier will order more Boeings.

"We are optimistic that the next buyer (of Air India) will grow the fleet with what they already have in the fleet because trained pilots and engineers are available, spare parts are there and they have engineering maintenance contracts," said the senior Boeing official.
The national carrier, comprising Air India, Air India Express and Alliance Air, has a fleet size of 153 aircraft.
Of these, 65 are Boeing planes and 73 Airbus aircraft and remaining are ATR turboprops for regional flights.