San Francisco: US aerospace giant Boeing has signed a contract valued at $7 billion to supply 12 of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft to Gulf Air, with options for six additional jets. The agreement, announced Thursday, comes as the Bahrain-based airline seeks to expand its global reach and modernise its fleet.

On the 12 June, Air India flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London crashed less than a minute after take-off, killing 241 people on board and 19 on the ground.

Speculation following the release of the preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau had suggested this might have been the case, as Kunder would have had his hands full flyi...