Turkey Denies Claims Of Turkish Firm's Involvement In Maintenance Of Air India 171 Aircraft

Last Updated:June 15, 2025, 09:18 IST

Claims were made on social media that Turkish Technic was involved in the maintenance of the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner which crashed in Ahmedabad this week.

Air India plane crash: Turkey denies involvement in maintenance (Reuters Image)

The Turkish government has denied the involvement of Turkish Technic – maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) arm of Turkish Airlines – in the maintenance of the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

The communication wing of the government has said that the claim that Turkish Technic maintained the AI-171 aircraft that crashed shortly after takeoff, resulting in the deaths of 241 people on board, “is false" and “constitutes disinformation aimed at manipulating public opinion" on India-Turkey relations.

The clarification came a day after the crash, following claims by some social media handles that Turkey was involved in the maintenance of the crashed aircraft. The handles also cited the Air India–Turkish Technic deal signed in February 2025 to claim that the Boeing 787-8 aircraft was a part of the agreement for maintenance.

However, the Turkish government has refuted the claims and said that the deal was “exclusively for B777-type wide-body aircraft".

“The claim that ‘the maintenance of the Boeing 787-8 passenger aircraft was carried out by Turkish Technic’ following the crash of an Air India passenger aircraft during take-off is false. The claim that the crashed aircraft was maintained by Turkish Technic constitutes disinformation aimed at manipulating public opinion regarding Türkiye-India relations," the Turkish government said on June 13 on X.

“Under the agreements made between Air India and Turkish Technic in 2024 and 2025, maintenance services are provided exclusively for B777-type wide-body aircraft. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner involved in the accident does not fall within the scope of this agreement. To date, Turkish Technic has not conducted maintenance on any Air India aircraft of this type," it added.

However, as per a Times of India report on June 1, Turkish Technic currently conducts heavy maintenance for a portion of Air India’s Boeing 777 and 787 fleet.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson earlier announced the airline’s plans to reduce its reliance on Turkish Technic for the maintenance of its wide-body aircraft and MRO facilities.

As per Hürriyet Daily News, the Air India-Turkish Technic deal 2025 would provide extensive component services such as component pooling, repair, overhaul, modification and logistics services for Air India’s 190 Boeing 737-8 and 737-10 aircraft.

“We are happy to further strengthen our partnership with Air India Express through a new agreement. The continuation of our cooperation is a testament to our reliability in component support, supply and solution services," the newspaper quoted Mikail Akbulut, the CEO of Turkish Technic, as saying earlier.

Ankara, Turkey

News india Turkey Denies Claims Of Turkish Firm's Involvement In Maintenance Of Air India 171 Aircraft