Indian Media Claim on Turkish Maintenance of Air India Plane Debunked

Islamabad:Following a crash of an Air India plane in India on Thursday, Indian media claimed that the responsibility for the maintenance of the aircraft lay with a Turkish company, Turkish Technic, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, in which the Turkish government holds a 49% stake.

Indian journalist Arnab Goswami raised concerns about the safety of flying in an aircraft maintained by a Turkish company, highlighting the fact that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is perceived as anti-India and pro-Pakistan. Goswami questioned why India allows maintenance in Turkey when they refuse to permit it in Pakistan, calling the situation alarming.

However, these claims have been swiftly debunked by Turkish media. According to Turkish outlets, the plane involved in the incident was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, while the images being shared in relation to Turkish Technic’s hangars depicted a Boeing 777 aircraft.

Sources confirmed that the agreement between Turkish Technic and Air India pertains only to the maintenance of Boeing 777 aircraft, which are serviced in Istanbul, and these planes have been operating without any issues.

The false claims made by Indian journalists regarding the involvement of Turkish Technic in the maintenance of the crashed Boeing 787-8 appear to be unsubstantiated, and Turkish media has clarified the misunderstanding.