Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner loses radio contact gets intercepted by Italian Typhoons

[SvenSvensonov]

A Boeing 787 was intercepted by the Italian Air Force after experiencing loss of radio contact with the Air Traffic Control
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner, flying between Delhi and Rome as Air India AIC123 flight was intercepted by two Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon interceptors from Grosseto airbase on Oct. 16.

According to the Italian Air Force, the aircraft, registration VT-ANQ, lost radio contact with the Air Traffic Control agencies and entered the Italian airspace unauthorized. For this reason the QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) cell at Grosseto airbase was scrambled to intercept, identify and escort the liner, as done last month with a Lebanese A320 following a bomb threat.

The two F-2000A jets of the 4° Stormo (Wing) reached the B787 at 24,000 feet to the southeast of Rome. The Typhoons identified the civil plane and shadowed it from distance, not to be seen by passengers and once at 30 kilometers from destination, they were cleared to return to their base.

Above, a screenshot from Flightradar24 showing the route followed by the AIC123 flight.

(Information from Theaviationist)

* My comments;

I love the dreamliner concept, air frame and having flown in one as a passenger, the experience, but goodness if these systems aren't have a few too many problems. Nice to see Europe's QRA wing getting some action though.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

^^^
Dreamliners are having more than their share of problems. Not all the operators are very dreamy-eyed about them nowadays.

 

[Donatello]

Every major new airliner has some problems. A380 had those. A350 went pretty smooth during certification, but as they deliver A350 to airlines, we will know more when airplanes are actually put to good, real time use. The Bombardier C series which is a simple single aisle plane, too had problems.

Secondly, Air India isn't exactly a model airline to look up to and their decision to buy 787s was hastily taken. It has been discussed to death on airliners.net

You need to understand, as newer systems like HUDs, Engines, Carbon Fibre fuselage, Lith-ion Batteries are used, there are bound to be problems. Boeing offers pretty good service and support since they benefit from rectifying these issues as well.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Every major new airliner has some problems. A380 had those. A350 went pretty smooth during certification, but as they deliver A350 to airlines, we will know more when airplanes are actually put to good, real time use. The Bombardier C series which is a simple single aisle plane, too had problems.

Secondly, Air India isn't exactly a model airline to look up to and their decision to buy 787s was hastily taken. It has been discussed to death on airliners.net

You need to understand, as newer systems like HUDs, Engines, Carbon Fibre fuselage, Lith-ion Batteries are used, there are bound to be problems. Boeing offers pretty good service and support since they benefit from rectifying these issues as well.

Preaching to the choir. As with all the criticism of the F-35 and before it of the F-18, F-16, so on and so forth, revolutionary technology is going to have teething problems. For the Dreamliner the problems are more problematic however. For military systems the risk of problems are delays or funding issues until the problem is sorted out. Take the F-22's with their oxygen issues and their subsequent ground, a grounding order which has been rescinded. For civilian airliners, and especially airlines that are hemorrhaging money, the problems are a loss of revenue and possible a loss of lives and consumer confidence. Problems are too be expect and shouldn't be expected to be any different, the problems are just more magnified as they involved non-militarily systems.

 

[Donatello]

Preaching to the choir. As with all the criticism of the F-35 and before it of the F-18, F-16, so on and so forth, revolutionary technology is going to have teething problems. For the Dreamliner the problems are more problematic however. For military systems the risk of problems are delays or funding issues until the problem is sorted out. Take the F-22's with their oxygen issues and their subsequent ground, a grounding order which has been rescinded. For civilian airliners, and especially airlines that are hemorrhaging money, the problems are a loss of revenue and possible a loss of lives and consumer confidence. Problems are too be expect and shouldn't be expected to be any different, the problems are just more magnified as they involved non-militarily systems.

True, also the fact that A380 and 787 came out in a time when every tom, dick and harry has access to internet and online media, and as such the news gets blown out of proportion. 777 had problems too, so did A330/340. Let's not even get to 737 rudder problems, 747/DC10 carge door problems etc.

Boeing and the airlines sign contracts that include the provisions for specified performance parameters that must be met or else the manufacturer has to offer some sort of compensation. Boeing and Airbus, both make very good planes, like no other. They are professional firms and as such know how to deal with problems. If the resultant grounding of an airliner results in revenue loss, it is well within the usual stipulated contract that the manufacturer makes up for it, and they generally do, not disregarding the fact that Airbus and Boeing, both offer massive discounts to launch customers.