missing

BIA

Air India

the national

Bangalore

Dreamliner

Indira Gandhi

stress

entertainment

An 8x4 ft panel of the fuselage, located between the main landing gear, was foundafter plane landed at. It is believed to have fallen off mid-airPassengers on anDelhi-Bangalore (AI803) flight had a narrow escape when a sizeable section of the fuselage was found missing after the plane landed in the city on Saturday. Aircraft engineers ofcarrier at theInternational Aiport (BIA) were preparing the plane, a Boeing, for its return trip to Delhi when the missing part, located between the main landing gear, was discovered. The missing panel left a gaping hole in the fuselage.The aircraft, which carried 147 passengers on its trip to the city, was grounded and a massive hunt was launched for the missing section at both BIA andInternational Airport. It was conjectured that the panel, secured by rivets, could have fallen off either due to a hard landing or on takeoff. The panel, however, has not been found.“A panel falling off is serious,” said aviation expert Vipul Saxena. “The stability of the aircraft could be affected as there would be more drag on the aircraft body.”The aircraft was being piloted by Capt Gopal Nambiar and it is unclear if the captain noticed anything amiss during the flight. “It’s a huge section and there must have been some indication to the pilot in terms of impact on stability of aircraft,” Saxena said. "As the aircraft has a second set of lithium ion batteries in the rear section there must have been someimpact on the battery compartment.”An Air India spokesperson admitted there was a technical snag and that “a panel did fall off”, but that the part was replaced and the plane certified to operate.“The 8x4 ft panel is held to the fuselage by rivets,” a member of the crew said. “It has not been found yet and it is now believed to have fallen off mid-air. An incident report has been prepared and handed over to the DGCA.”Passengers — 160 of them — on the flight back to Delhi were delayed by 10 hours due to a lack of spares. “A panel was removed from another Dreamliner aircraft in Delhi and flown in so that AI 803, which remained grounded for 10 hours, could fly back,” the crew member said.Air India operates the Dreamliner on domestic services between Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Bangalore and Delhi-Kolkata routes besides international operations to London, Frankfurt, Paris and Australia. The Bangalore-Delhi is a connecting flight for passengers to London, Birmingham and Paris.“We examined the aircraft and found that the panel fastened by rivets had come off,” a DGCA official said. “Since an examination did not show any internal damage to the aircraft it was cleared to fly back.”An airline spokesman revealed that Dreamliners were cost-effective, offered roomier cabins, larger electronically dimming windows and a state-of-the-art in-flightsystem powered by the most sophisticated GEnx engines.