Aviation authorities will send a fuel control switch from a Boeing 787 to the United States for further inspection, the government said, even though initial checks found no fault.
Air India had grounded a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on Feb 2 before take-off on a flight from London Heathrow to Bengaluru after one of the pilots reported a possible defect in the fuel control switch.
The pilot’s report stated that the fuel control switch “slips from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’ when pushed slightly and does not lock positively in its selected position”, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
Following the report, Air India conducted tests on the aircraft and across its Boeing 787 fleet in line with recommendations from Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer.
“Upon review of the inspection results and evidence provided, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) concluded that the Fuel Control Switch was mechanically functioning as designed and considered the unit serviceable,” the ministry statement read.
“The DGCA India, as part of continued airworthiness of the involved Fuel Control Switch, has directed for their inspection at OEM facility in presence of DGCA officers.”
The US inspection comes ahead of the separate final report into the crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that killed 260 people shortly after take-off on June 12, 2025.
As required by international law, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau published a preliminary report on July 12, one month after the disaster, when the plane exploded into flames shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad in western India.
That 15-page document said the fuel supply to the jet’s engines was cut off moments before impact, raising questions about possible pilot error.
It did not mention whether the turning off of the fuel switches could have been caused by pilot manoeuvre, or by a malfunction.
The final report into the at incident is expected by next month, within a year of the crash.
The Federation of Indian Pilots submitted a letter to the aviation ministry earlier this month, suggesting that electrical failure, and not pilot action, could have caused the deadly Air India crash. — AFP
