The development comes as Russia’s aviation sector seeks to reduce its reliance on the Western aviation industry.

The disaster marks the first time a 787 Dreamliner — Boeing’s newest plane model — has been involved in a catastrophic crash since its debut in 2011.

The Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft seats 256 passengers in a two-class configuration and is used on long-haul routes. This aircraft have 18 seats in Business Class and 238 Economy.

The Air India tragedy, in which at least 270 people died, involved one of Boeing's most innovative and popular planes. Until now, it was considered one of its safest too.

: Boeing signs its biggest-ever 787 order, a 130-plane deal with Qatar Airways. June 12: An Air India 787-8 crashes in northwest India shortly after taking off, the first fatal accident for the fleet.

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner Raised Safety Concerns but Had Never Crashed Before There are more than 1,100 of the jets in service today. Air India flies nearly three dozen of them.

The probe into the Air India crash, which killed 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, is focused on the fuel control switches of the Boeing 787 jetliner.