"No Issues": Air India Re-Inspects Fuel Control Switch Across Boeing Dreamliners

The Fuel Control Switches (FCS) across all operational Boeing 787 aircraft in the Air India fleet were found to have no issues, the carrier said after UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sought a response on how a Dreamliner passenger jet which was grounded on arrival in India for safety checks took off from London on Sunday with a possibly faulty fuel switch.

The CAA's question also came months after the AI171 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad killed 260 people, where the role of fuel switches also came under question. It warned of possible regulatory action against Air India and its Boeing 787 fleet if the airline does not submit a complete response within a week.

Air India said it had completed precautionary re-inspections "in an abundance of caution following an observation reported by one of our pilots". Air India said on Monday it had grounded a Boeing Dreamliner after a pilot reported a possible "defect" with the fuel control switch, which controls the flow of fuel to the plane's engines, on landing.

The Air India spokesperson said it will fully adhere to the CAA's guidance to circulate procedures for the operation of the FCS to all crew members. "Air India will respond to the UK regulator accordingly. The safety of our passengers and crew remains Air India's highest priority," the airline said.

The Aviation Ministry on Tuesday said that inspections of the fuel control switches on a grounded Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner have found both switches "satisfactory", following a pilot's report that a switch did not remain properly latched in the 'RUN' position during engine start.

Based on Boeing's recommended checks to establish the serviceability of the fuel control switch, Air India engineering inspected both the left and right switches, the Ministry said. The airline reported that both switches were found satisfactory, with the locking tooth or pawl fully seated and not slipping from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF'. When full force was applied parallel to the base plate, the switch remained secure.

The CAA said in a statement that it was a standard process for a regulator to request details following "an aircraft incident and is in line with safety assurance procedures".

The UK watchdog has also sought a "comprehensive root-cause analysis" of the incident and a "preventive action plan" to preclude a recurrence of similar events across Air India's Boeing 787 fleet, said the letter accessed by Reuters.

The incident involved an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft, registration VT-ANX, operating flight AI-132 from London to Bengaluru on February 1. During engine start in London, the crew observed on two occasions that a fuel control switch did not remain positively latched in the 'RUN' position when light vertical pressure was applied. On the third attempt, the switch latched correctly and remained stable.

No abnormal engine parameters, cautions, warnings or system messages were observed during engine start or at any time thereafter. The flight was completed without incident and landed in Bengaluru. After landing, the crew recorded the issue in the aircraft's post-flight defect report. Air India referred the matter to Boeing for guidance.