The Federal Aviation Administration has still not learned anything that would prompt the agency to take regulatory action in response to the deadly crash five days ago of an Air India Boeing 787-8.
That is according to FAA acting administrator Chris Rocheleau, who tells FlightGlobal that FAA staff are in frequent communication with investigators but that nothing yet has arisen that would require the agency take action to address any 787 safety concerns.
“We have no indication at this time that we need to do anything immediately,” Rocheleau said on 17 June at the Paris air show.
“We have teams actively involved in that investigation,” he adds. “We are in daily – multiple daily – contact with the India authorities… if there is any need to take action, we will take action.”
Rocheleau made similar comments on 12 June, the day the jet crashed into an urban area about 30s after taking off from Ahmedabad airport’s runway 23, killing at least 241 people.
The aircraft climbed briefly, reaching 625ft, according to the last altitude data available from flight tracking websites. It then sank with its wings largely level until crashing and erupting into a fireball.
India’s Aircraft Accident Incident Investigation Bureau is leading the inquiry, though few details are known. Investigators reportedly in recent days recovered the jet’s cockpit voice and flight-data recorders.
Rocheleau says he is unaware if authorities have yet examined data from those recoveries.
Investigators will be seeking to understand why the aircraft failed to maintain lift and will likely focus their inquiry on factors including the state of the jet’s GE Aerospace GEnx turbofans and its configuration during take-off.
