"Fully Functional": Air India On London-Delhi Boeing 787 Fuel Switch Test

The fuel-control switch panel on an Air India-operated Boeing 787 - which flew from London to Delhi in February after pilots flagged a possible defect - has already been confirmed as "fully functional", the airline said Tuesday evening.

The Air India statement was in response to a Reuters report that said officials from the national regulator - the Directorate General of Civil Aviation - had insisted on being present at a Boeing facility in the United States to observe the manufacture testing the recovered panel.

"The decision to proceed with further testing is intended to ensure a thorough and conclusive evaluation of the component, as a measure of abundant caution," Air India said, explaining the controlled-environment testing was meant to "definitively confirm performance and integrity".

"We fully support the process," the airline said.

The Aviation Ministry - to which the DGCA reports - did not confirm the Seattle visit. Sources in the ministry would only tell NDTV the AAIB, i.e., the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, had been kept informed "on all the developments since the occurrence was reported".

News of further testing of the panel renews spotlight on switches that regulate flow of jet fuel into a plane's engines, even as investigators prepare a final report into the crash of another Air India-operated Boeing 787 - one that crashed seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad.

The Gujarat crash killed 260 people - 241 on board the plane and 19 on the ground.

The fuel control switches - designed to be immovable without specific pilot action - have come under scrutiny since a preliminary report found they had been shut off nearly simultaneously.

During the February incident, the pilots observed the fuel switches did not remain fixed in the 'RUN' position while starting the engine; this was when light vertical pressure was applied.

The switches remained stable on a third try, the DGCA said earlier.

British authorities investigated the incident after the plane landed safely in Delhi. Boeing privately told Air India it found the switches to be "serviceable".

The module was nevertheless sent to the Boeing facility in Seattle for testing.