Air India grounds its six Dreamliners

New Delhi - Air India grounded its six Boeing 787 Dreamliners Thursday after a directive from the US air transportion regulator over safety concerns about the aircraft, the Times of India reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Wednesday issued an order to airlines in the United States grounding all Dreamliners to address a potential battery fire risk.

"In line with the FAA directive, we have decided to ground the Dreamliners temporarily," said Rohit Nandan, the head of Air India.

The FAA order followed what it said was an in-flight "battery incident" Wednesday in Japan, the latest in a string of recent incidents involving the plane.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways on Wednesday grounded Boeing’s newest model after cockpit instruments showed battery problems and the pilot smelled an unusual odour on an ANA flight that made an unscheduled landing at Takamatsu Airport.

The FAA said it would work with Boeing and carriers to develop a corrective action plan to allow the US 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible.

Boeing Co has so far delivered 50 Dreamliners, half of them to airlines in Japan.//DPA