The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked Indian airlines on Monday to carry out a thorough inspection of the fuel switch locks of all Boeing 787 and 737 jets in their fleet. This comes after the release of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)’s report, probing the June 12 Air India plane crash, that revealed that fuel switch lock disengagement was the reason behind the deadly accident.
As per the civil aviation regulator, airlines have been given time till July 21 to comply with its directive. Apart from Air India, its subsidiary Air India Express and other airlines like SpiceJet and Akasa Air operate the Boeing 737 jets, a single-aisle aircraft of the US-based manufacturer.
In connection to the latest development, an Air India official said that checks were initiated by the airlines on Saturday and half of its fleet has been inspected so far, an Air India official said. However, he further stated that these checks haven’t identified any defects.
International airlines like Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines have also started some precautionary fuel switch lock checks on their Boeing aircrafts. In addition, South Korea has also asked for similar checks on Boeing jets, Reuters reported.
Instructions for these safety inspections come despite the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as Boeing assuring the operators about the safety of fuel switch locks in their planes. Since the Boeing jets are manufactured in the US, countries follow the FAA standards to ensure reliability and safety. However, independent actions can also be taken by regulators and airlines if they think it is fit for their safe operations. The FAA refers to the agency that regulates civil aviation in the United States and operates under U.S Department of Transportation.
Back in 2018, FAA had issued an advisory about potential cases of disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature in their 737 aircrafts but since the issue has not been reported in any 787 jets so far, the FAA hasn’t ever thought of making the advisory mandatory for the aircrafts.
According to Air India, the airline did not carry out suggested inspections of fuel control switch locks as it was "advisory and not mandatory". These locks are responsible for regulating the flow of fuel to the engine.
The preliminary report by the AAIB released on Saturday also stated that Air India changed the switches once in 2019 and once in 2023, when the airline had replaced the throttle control module. However, the reason behind the replacement had nothing to do with the fuel control switch.
As per an engineer certified for Boeing aircrafts, in a modern jet like the Boeing 787, the thrust control module and the fuel control switches are usually physically integrated into the same quadrant unit and thereby replacing the module also involves replacing the fuel switches. Additionally, after the AAIB report the FAA has also reiterated that it does not consider this to be an unsafe condition.
