Air India begins probe after Boeing-777 gets ‘stall warning’ after take-off from Delhi

Tata Group-owned Air India has started an investigation and “off-rostered” pilots following an incident involving a Boeing-777 aircraft that reportedly received “stall warning” just after take-off from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Just 38 hours after the fatal June 12 crash of flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad, another Air India aircraft — a Boeing 777 headed to Vienna — experienced a stall warning, reported The Times of India.

The aircraft, operating as AI 187, also triggered a “don’t sink” caution from the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS), alerting the pilots to a loss of altitude and urging them to maintain height, the report said.

In a statement on the incident, an Air India spokesperson said, “Upon receipt of the pilot's report, the matter was disclosed to DGCA in accordance with regulations. Subsequently, upon receipt of data from the aircraft's recorders, further investigation was initiated. The pilots have been off-rostered pending the outcome of the investigation.”

This comes days after Air India said that it will undertake enhanced safety checks on its Boeing 777 fleet as a matter of added precaution following the air crash in Ahmedabad.

India’s aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has mandated ‘Enhanced Safety Inspection’ across Air India’s Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9 aircraft fleet.

As a result, Air India slashed international services on widebody aircraft by 15% to ensure the stability of operations, improve efficiency and minimise inconvenience to passengers.

“Given the compounding circumstances that Air India is facing, to ensure stability of our operations, better efficiency and to minimise inconvenience to passengers, Air India has decided to reduce its international services on widebody aircraft by 15% for the next few weeks,” the airline said.

The cuts were implemented from June 21, 2025, and will continue until at least July 15, 2025. “This effectively adds to our reserve aircraft availability to take care of any unplanned disruptions,” the airline said.

The airline has suspended Delhi-Nairobi, Amritsar-London (Gatwick), Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) routes until July 15. It has reduced frequency on flights to North America, Europe, Australia and the Far East.

“The curtailments are a painful measure to take, but are necessary following a devastating event which we are still working through and an unusual combination of external events. It is done to restore operational stability, and to minimise last-minute inconvenience to passengers. With the continued support of our passengers, the regulatory authorities, Ministry of Civil Aviation and India at large, we will come out stronger through this tragic incident and re-establish the confidence of our passengers and all stakeholders in our services, at the earliest,” Air India had said.