Mumbai: India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has escalated its investigation into a compromised Boeing 787-8 fuel switch, ordering that the component undergo a stringent inspection at Boeing’s own facility under the direct supervision of Indian oversight officers. The directive follows months of international friction with the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which has fiercely questioned the airworthiness of the Air India aircraft involved and the carrier's decision to operate a long-haul flight with a faulty engine switch.
VT-ANX Dreamliner at Centre of Dispute
The aircraft at the centre of the dispute, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner registered as VT-ANX, has been grounded in Bengaluru since February 2, 2026. The grounding followed the arrival of flight AI-132 from London Heathrow. Upon landing, the captain made a critical entry in the pilot defect report, noting that the left engine's Fuel Control Switch (FCS) was fundamentally unstable. According to the log, the switch "slips from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’ when pushed slightly and does not lock positively in its selected position."
The FCS is a safety-critical cockpit control. In the "CUTOFF" position, it mechanically isolates fuel delivery to the engine, instantly starving it and causing an in-flight shutdown.
Regulatory Rift Between UK and India
The incident triggered a sharp regulatory rift between British and Indian authorities over how the safety anomaly was handled on the tarmac at Heathrow on February 1. During pre-departure engine start-up in London, the flight crew noticed the left FCS failed to lock into the "RUN" position, reverting to "CUTOFF" twice under light pressure. On the third attempt, the switch appeared to latch. Rather than returning to the gate for an engineering inspection, the crew elected to cross the continents on a nine-hour flight to Bengaluru.
However, the UK CAA issued a formal notice to Air India, demanding an urgent explanation within seven days and warning of potential fleet-wide enforcement action against its Dreamliners. DGCA and Air India engineering initially attribute the defect to human error, claiming the pilot applied force in an "incorrect direction" against the switch's angular base plate.
UK Demanded Root-Cause Analysis
Initially, the DGCA appeared satisfied with Air India's internal findings that the issue was merely a procedural misstep by the pilot. However, the UK CAA took an uncompromisingly harder line, demanding a comprehensive root-cause analysis as to why an aircraft was deemed airworthy for an over-water, cross-continental flight after a primary fuel control component failed to latch twice on the ground.
Under pressure to ensure continued airworthiness, Air India carried out initial testing in India alongside DGCA officers, following Boeing-prescribed procedures.
Following a review of those tests, Boeing (the OEM) concluded that the switch was "mechanically functioning as designed" and deemed the unit serviceable.
Air India Supports Further Testing
Air India reiterated that the FCS module had already been confirmed as fully functional by Boeing and the DGCA. It stated that the additional step involves examination in a controlled laboratory environment to definitively confirm its performance and integrity. "The decision to proceed with further review and testing is understood to be intended to ensure a thorough and conclusive evaluation of the component, as a measure of abundant caution. We fully support the process," said an Air India spokesperson.
However, the DGCA has rejected a pure procedural conclusion and ordered, on Tuesday, an independent inspection at the Boeing facility in the presence of its officers. The physical examination of the switch at Boeing's facility will aim to determine whether latent material wear, vibration fatigue, or design tolerances could cause the lock mechanism to slip over time – an assessment that global regulators, particularly the UK CAA, will be watching with immense interest.
The Shadow of AI-171
The high-stakes regulatory scrutiny comes at a profoundly sensitive time for both Boeing and Air India. The global aviation community remains on high alert regarding the safety of the Boeing 787’s fuel architecture following the catastrophic crash of Air India flight AI-171 in June 2025, which resulted in 260 fatalities.
Preliminary findings from that disaster suggested that the aircraft's fuel supply was abruptly severed shortly after takeoff. While investigators have not explicitly linked the VT-ANX defect to the AI-171 tragedy, the mere vulnerability of a cockpit fuel switch slipping into "CUTOFF" under slight physical contact has forced regulators to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to cabin safety.
