Air India grounds Boeing Dreamliner over possible fuel switch defect
An Air India Boeing 787. (Photo by Robert Smith/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Air India has grounded a Boeing 787-8 after a pilot flagged a possible defect in the aircraft’s fuel control switch, prompting an urgent review with the manufacturer and notification to aviation regulators.
What they're saying:
"One of our pilots has reported a possible defect on the fuel control switch of a Boeing 787-8 aircraft," a company spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Television Stations. "After receiving this initial information, we have grounded the said aircraft and are involving the OEM [Original Equipment Manufacturer] to get the pilot’s concerns checked on priority."
RELATED: Air India crash report: Fuel was cut off to plane seconds after takeoff
"The matter has been communicated to the aviation regulator, DGCA [Directorate General of Civil Aviation]. Air India had previously 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."
"We are in contact with Air India and are supporting their review of this matter," Boeing said in a statement to FOX Television Stations.
2025 Air India plane crash
Big picture view:
The fuel control switch was also central to an investigation into a 2025 Air India flight bound for London that crashed into a residential area of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board, according to the airline.
One passenger survived after being thrown from the aircraft. At least five medical students in a college hostel were killed when the plane hit the building and burst into flames.
However, the airline have not connected the latest incident to last year's deadly crash.
Air India passenger plane crashes with 244 aboard
An Air India flight (AI171), which was flying from Ahmedabad to London, crashed just after takeoff. The plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, had 244 people on board 232 passengers and 12 crew members. The passengers included citizens from India, the UK, Portugal, and Canada. The crash happened in a residential area of Ahmedabad called Meghani Nagar, only about a minute after the plane left the airport. It had only climbed to about 625 feet before it went down. People nearby saw a fireball and thick black smoke after the crash. Emergency crews responded quickly, and India?s aviation authorities have launched an investigation to figure out what went wrong. This is especially significant because it?s the first time a Boeing 787 has ever crashed since the model was introduced back in 2009.
The fuel control switches on an Air India flight that crashed last year were moved from the "run" to the "cutoff" position moments before impact, cutting off fuel to both engines, according to a preliminary investigation report.
RELATED: Lone survivor of Air India crash reportedly recalls "loud noise" after takeoff
The report, issued by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, also indicated that both pilots were confused over the change to the switch setting, which caused a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff.
According to the report, the flight lasted around 30 seconds between takeoff and crash. It said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, "the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another" within a second. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position during the flight.
The switches were flipped back into the run position, the report said, but the plane could not gain power quickly enough to stop its descent after the aircraft had begun to lose altitude.
Report: Air India plane fuel cut off before crash
Fuel control switches for the engines of an Air India flight that crashed last month were moved from the ?run? to the ?cutoff? position moments before impact, starving both engines of fuel, a preliminary investigation report said early Saturday. LiveNOW's Austin Westfall dives into this new report with former commercial pilot Byron Jaffe.
The report stated: "One of the pilots transmitted ‘MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY’."
Air India said that preliminary inspections found no issues in the locking mechanism of fuel control switches for select Boeing aircrafts.
Some aviation experts in India speculated the crash was caused due to human error based on the preliminary report. At least two commercial pilots’ associations have rejected such claims.
What is the fuel control switch?
Dig deeper:
The movement of the fuel control switches allows and cuts fuel flow to the plane’s engines.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story comes from statements by Air India and Boeing provided to FOX Television Stations.