AC trouble on Delhi-Milan flight leaves AI Dreamliner grounded in Milan

By Saurabh Sinha, TNN | 7 Feb, 2015

An Air India Dreamliner flying from Delhi to Milan on Tuesday with over 120 passengers on board saw three of its four AC units' components called cabin air compressors (CAC) — which supply air and maintain pressure in the passenger cabin — fail. The pilot deftly managed to land safely in Milan and then the Dreamliner (VT-ANE) had to be grounded there. 

Sources say the aircraft in India was released under minimum equipment list (MEL), meaning sent to for flight with inoperative equipment which has backups and does not render aircraft unworthy, for the Italy flight as one CAC was no functioning properly. En route Italy, two more CACs reportedly developed snags, leaving just one of the critical components functional. 

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