India has ordered its airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models, after a preliminary report into the deadly Air India crash centres around the fuel switch locks.
A preliminary report into the Air India jet crash, which killed 260 people, found the fuel switches had abruptly flipped from the run position to cut-off shortly after take-off.
The report noted a 2018 advisory from the FAA, which recommended but did not mandate operators of several Boeing models, including the 787, to inspect the locking feature of the switches to ensure they could not be moved accidentally. The report said the airline had not carried out the FAA’s suggested inspections because the FAA’s 2018 advisory was not a mandate.
The report also said maintenance records showed that the throttle control module, which includes the fuel switches, was replaced in 2019 and 2023 on the plane involved in the crash.
India’s directorate general of civil aviation said it had issued an order to investigate locks on several Boeing models including 787s and 737s, after several Indian and international airlines began making their own inspections of fuel switches. The regulator oversees the world’s third-largest and fastest-growing aviation market, with Boeing aircraft used by three of the country’s four largest airlines.
Air India Group started checking the locking mechanism on the fuel switches of its Boeing 787 and 737 fleets over the weekend and had discovered no problems yet, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
There are more than 150 Boeing 737s and 787s being operated by Indian airlines. Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, Spicelet and IndiGo are the domestic carriers operating these aircraft.
Of these, IndiGo has seven B 737 Max 8 and one B787-9. All these are leased planes –either on wet or damp lease– and so are not registered in India.
About half of Air India Group’s 787s have been inspected and nearly all of its 737s, the source added, saying inspections were set to be completed in the next day or two.
On Sunday, Reuters reported that Boeing and the FAA privately issued notifications to airlines and regulators that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes were safe and checks were not required.
South Korea said it would also order a similar measure, despite Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) telling airlines and regulators in recent days that the locks were safe. A spokesperson for the South Korean transport ministry said checks there were in line with the 2018 advisory from the FAA, but it did not give a timeline on when they would be completed.
