No issues were found with the locking mechanism of the fuel control switches (FCS) on Air India’s Boeing 737 and 787 fleet, said the airline as it announced that it has completed the precautionary inspections.
On July 14, the director general of civil aviation ordered airlines to initiate inspection of their aircraft fleet’s FCS locking feature. This was just two days after the preliminary report of the AI-171 crash highlighted that the transition of FCS from ‘run’ to ‘cut-off’ caused the loss of fuel to both the engines resulting in the tragic crash that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad.
On Tuesday, Air India announced that it has completed precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of FCS on all Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet, complying with the directives of DGCA. While Boeing 787 model of aircraft are a part of Air India fleet, the B-737 aircraft are a part of the fleet of Air India Express, which is Air India’s low cost subsidiary. It claimed that no issues were found in the locking mechanism of both the airlines’ fleets.
“Air India had started voluntary inspections on July 12 and completed them within the prescribed time limit set by the DGCA. The same has been communicated to the regulator. Air India remains committed to the safety of passengers and crew members,” said the airline.
While the aircraft accident investigation bureau (AAIB) had not suggested any recommendations to Boeing in the preliminary investigation report, the country’s aviation watchdog issued an order for all the Boeing aircraft to undergo an inspection for the fuel supply switches. The order has its history back in December 2018 when the federal aviation administration (FAA) of the US, in a special airworthiness information bulletin (SAIB), highlighted the potential for disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature on multiple Boeing aircraft models.
The red flag was issued for 27 Boeing aircraft models, including the 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, which crashed in Ahmedabad. DGCA issues mandatory modifications for aircraft, engines and components registered in India based on the airworthiness directives issued by the state of design and manufacture.
