The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued a clarification after a London–Bengaluru Air India flight suffered technical issues on Sunday. The incident had sparked immediate comparisons to the devastating Air India crash from last year — with many claiming there was a serious malfunction in the fuel cut-off switch.
In a statement, the Aviation body said that “no abnormal” engine parameters or related system messages were observed during engine start or at any time thereafter.
“During engine start in London, on two occasions crew observed that the 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 in “RUN” and subsequently remained stable. Before continuing with the rest of procedure, a physical verification was performed by the crew to confirm that the switch was fully and positively latched in the “RUN” position. No abnormal engine parameters, cautions, warnings, or related system messages were observed during engine start or at any time thereafter,” read the formal rejoinder from DGCA.
The aviation watchdog clarified that the operating crew member had been briefed about the observation, and all engine indications and alerting systems were closely monitored by the crew for the remainder of the flight. Unnecessary contact with the switch was avoided. The crew had also reported the defect after landing in Bengaluru. Air India referred the matter to Boeing for additional guidance. DGCA also said that the airline was being advised to circulate the Boeing-recommended procedure for operation of fuel cut off switch to crew members.
What exactly is the issue?
An Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft was grounded earlier this month after a pilot reported a possible defect in the fuel control switch. Social media clips had surfaced soon after the incident — depicting an individual easily nudging the switch from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” with their finger/thumb applying pressure at an angle. It had quickly gone viral as the aircraft was grounded for checks and sparked claims that the fuel switch had “failed”.
Air India begins inspecting Boeing 787 fleet
The remarks came even as Air India led an inspection of fuel control switches across its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet on Tuesday. Sources told ANI in the afternoon that half the fleet had already been scrutinised with zero glitches found. The report also noted that Air India had escalated the matter to Boeing for a priority evaluation. No adverse findings have been reported so far during the precautionary fleet-wide re-inspection of the Fuel Control Switches.
“We are aware that one of our pilots has reported a possible defect on the fuel control switch of a Boeing 787-8 aircraft. After receiving this initial information, we have grounded the said aircraft and are involving the OEM to get the pilot’s concerns checked on a priority basis. The matter has been communicated to the aviation regulator, DGCA. Air India had checked the fuel control switches on all Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet after a directive from the DGCA, and had found no issues. At Air India, the safety of our passengers and crew remains top priority,” an Air India spokesperson had said soon after the incident.