New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) The government has said that Boeing’s detailed examination of the Dreamliner aircraft’s fuel control switch locking mechanism did not find any abnormality following an Air India pilot flagging possible issues with the system after operating a London-Bengaluru flight in February this year.
The government statement, in a written reply by Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol to the Rajya Sabha, did not refer to the fuel switches of Air India flight AI171, also a Boeing 787-8, that crashed in Ahmedabad immediately after take-off on July 12 last year. Even in that case, the jetliner’s fuel switches have been under the spotlight because a preliminary inquiry said they were switched off within a gap of one
second. A full report into the investigation is pending.
The minister’s statement pertained to a February 2 incident in which an Air India pilot reported a defect in the fuel control switch of the Boeing 787-8 plane after operating the AI132 flight. The plane was grounded for checks after it landed in Bengaluru from London’s Heathrow airport.
Following the incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed Boeing to test the fuel control switch locking mechanism.
Mohol said the DGCA, as part of continued airworthiness, had directed Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)-level testing of the fuel control switch locking mechanism in Seattle.
“Detailed examination of Fuel Control Switch, including structural integrity of Fuel Control Switch detents, was carried out and no abnormality was observed. However, further inspection of the complete ‘Thrust Control Module’ at the OEM facility is underway,” the minister said in the written reply on Monday.
The minister was responding to a question about the outcome of DGCA’s OEM-level testing of the fuel control switch locking mechanism in Seattle, ordered after the February 2026 grounding.
After one of its pilots flagged a possible issue with the Dreamliner’s fuel control switch, an Air India spokesperson on February 4 said the airline completed precautionary re-inspections of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) across all operational Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet and that no issues were identified during these checks.
Meanwhile, the functioning of the fuel control switch in Dreamliners has been in focus in the wake of the fatal crash of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 plane soon after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12 last year. A total of 260 people died in the crash of the aircraft that was bound for London’s Gatwick airport.
In its preliminary report on the crash that was released on July 12 last year, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the fuel supply to both engines of the plane was cut off within a gap of one second, causing confusion in the cockpit soon after take-off.
“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” it had said.
Mohol, in the written reply on Monday, said there was no delay in the investigation.
“The timeline for a major accident investigation cannot be predicted, as it depends on several factors and is an evolving process involving multiple variables. The investigation is under progress. All probable causes and contributing factors leading to the accident are being investigated,” he had said.
The minister was responding to a query by Rajya Sabha member Jebi Mather Hisham on the reasons for the delay in releasing the AAIB final report.
In an interim statement on June 12 on the AI171 plane crash probe, the AAIB said significant progress has been made, and the final report will be released upon completion of all investigative activities, requisite international review and consultation processes. PTI RAM BAL SAP SAP SAP
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