New Delhi, 24 June

A plea in the Supreme Court has sought suspending Air India Boeing aircraft operations pending a safety audit within two weeks in wake of the recent Ahmedabad air tragedy that claimed lives of 241 passengers and crew on board.

The London-bound Air India flight, Boeing Dreamliner 787-8, with 242 passengers and crew on board, crashed moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on the afternoon of 12 June.

The plea sought directions to the authorities, particularly the DGCA, to conduct unannounced audits of entire fleet of Air India and other air carriers operating in India, with public disclosure of findings and imposition of immediate corrective measures or penalties for non-compliance.

The plea filed by petitioner and advocate Ajay Bansal has made the Centre, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air India Limited and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) as parties.

It also sought directions for stringent security and scientific checks of all planes operating in India and immediate grounding of all aircraft found not fully functional or without prescribed facilities for international passenger service until all defects were rectified and airworthiness recertified.

In the interim, the plea sought to "suspend operation of Boeing aircraft of Air India, pending a safety audit within two weeks, in view of the recent crash and reported maintenance backlogs".

The petitioner further sought within four weeks the formulation and notification of fresh mandatory guidelines prescribing stringent and periodic functional checks of all cabin equipment, engines, airframes and ancillary systems, consistent with best international standards.

"The present petition challenges systemic failures in maintenance, functionality and passenger services on Air India flights, as evidenced by the recent tragic Ahmedabad-London crash, and the petitioner's own business class journey on AI 127 (DEL–ORD) on May 20, 2025, where seats, in-flight entertainment and air-conditioning were non-functional," Bansal said, referring to his journey from Delhi to Chicago.

The plea claimed the seats failed to recline properly, the seat-back entertainment systems were entirely non-functional and air-conditioning did not work until cruising altitude.

The recent crash of an Air India Boeing aircraft on the Ahmedabad-London route has further compounded concerns of general public, the plea added.

Calling it a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, Bansal said the safety and security of all air passengers was subsumed within "life" under the constitutional provision.