Loading Page...

Has a Dreamliner ever crashed?

As of October 2023, the 787 program has booked a total of 1,843 orders and made 1,093 deliveries while recording zero fatalities and no hull losses.



Until recently, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had one of the cleanest safety records in aviation history. However, on June 12, 2025, the first fatal crash involving the type occurred when Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India. The aircraft struck a hostel block at B. J. Medical College, resulting in the loss of 242 lives (230 passengers and 12 crew) and 19 additional fatalities on the ground. This was the first "hull loss" and fatal accident for the Dreamliner since it entered service in 2011. Preliminary investigations and a 2026 whistleblower report have focused on a potential "chain of events" involving unintentional activation of fuel control switches in the cockpit, combined with historical reports of electrical malfunctions on that specific airframe. Prior to this tragedy, the Dreamliner's only major safety crisis was the 2013 fleet-wide grounding due to lithium-ion battery fires, but those incidents did not result in any crashes or loss of life, leaving the 2025 Ahmedabad disaster as the sole fatal event in the aircraft's history.

People Also Ask

The 787's latest problem mirrors production issues discovered over 2020 and 2021 that included improperly fitted shimming that led to paper-thin gaps between surfaces on the Dreamliner's fuselage.

MORE DETAILS

In July 2003, a public naming competition was held for the 7E7, for which out of 500,000 votes cast online the winning title was Dreamliner. Other names included eLiner, Global Cruiser, and Stratoclimber. All Nippon Airways launched the 787 program with an order for 50 aircraft in 2004.

MORE DETAILS

The 787 is different, and Boeing engineered it so passengers could fly 16 hours and still feel (relatively) refreshed.

MORE DETAILS

The Boeing 787-10 can fly for more than 6,400 miles without needing to refuel.

MORE DETAILS

United Airlines United holds a considerable number of Dreamliners, including 38 787-9s. The Chicago-based carrier also has 12 787-8s in its holdings.

MORE DETAILS

On January 17th, 2013, the FAA ordered the entire 787 fleet across all airlines to be grounded, and the NTSB launched an investigation. The culprit was eventually identified as a lithium-ion battery. A cell within the battery was believed to have short-circuited, causing what is known as a thermal runaway.

MORE DETAILS

Deliveries of the Boeing 787 were stopped by the FAA in May 2021 after production flaws surfaced and concerns over Boeing's inspection methods. The FAA then declared in February 2022 that it would not allow Boeing to self-certify the completion of each 787 aircraft.

MORE DETAILS

#1: The Tenerife Airport Disaster The deadliest aviation accident in history actually occurred while on the ground, not in the air. In 1977, two fully loaded Boeing 747 passenger jets collided in the middle of a runway on Tenerife Island, killing 583 people.

MORE DETAILS

Boeing 787 Dreamliner With its different variants, the Dreamliner can fly faster than most passenger aircraft on the market today. It is capable of flying at 690 mph (Mach 0.9), making it one of the fastest jetliners. The 787 family is operated by over 39 different carriers.

MORE DETAILS

For a rough estimate, most jet airliners takeoff and land at , roughly, 140–150 mph. Of course we deal with knots, but for a “civilian”, 150 mph. Has the 787 Dreamliner been a success for Boeing and its customers?

MORE DETAILS

To put it into actual time, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner is certified for ETOPS-330. This means that the plane can fly on routes that take it 330 minutes from the nearest suitable airport for landing. To put this in perspective, the 787 can fly for five and a half hours on one engine.

MORE DETAILS

The longest flight in the world by distance is New York (JFK) to Singapore (SIN) on Singapore Airlines clocking in at 9,537 miles. What plane can fly the farthest in the world? The current record for the longest-distance commercial flight is held by a Boeing 777-200LR.

MORE DETAILS

The carbon-fibre structure of the 787 allows the aircraft to be pressurized to a much higher level than on many other aircraft types. The lower the cabin altitude, the better you feel both during and after the flight, allowing your body to adjust to your new time zone more quickly.

MORE DETAILS

Turbulence is a sudden and sometimes violent shift in airflow. Those irregular motions in the atmosphere create air currents that can cause passengers on an airplane to experience annoying bumps during a flight, or it can be severe enough to throw an airplane out of control. (The pilots) aren't scared at all.

MORE DETAILS

However, generally, the larger the plane, the better it is at absorbing turbulence. For example, due to the sheer size, aircraft like the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 are said to be two of the best planes for coping with turbulence.

MORE DETAILS

Routes with the Most Turbulence
  • New York to London.
  • Seoul to Dallas.
  • Flying into certain airports near the equator. There are certain airports which are located close to the equator which means frequent thunderstorms, especially in certain seasons. ...
  • Flying into Reno, Nevada. ...
  • London to South Africa.


MORE DETAILS