Air India Airlines has inspected the fuel control switch of its Boeing 787 aircraft. Regarding this, DGCA said, ‘Air India’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft AI-132 was getting ready for flight from London to Bangalore. While starting the engine in London, the crew noticed that the fuel control switch was not locking properly in the run position when applied lightly. The first and second time the switch did not stay in the RUN position as soon as light pressure was applied, but the third time the switch locked properly in the RUN position and remained stable after that. Before proceeding further, the crew checked by hand to ensure that the switch was completely and firmly locked in the RUN position.
What information did DGCA give regarding the investigation?
DGCA said, ‘No warning came during engine start and no alarm or fault was observed. Then unnecessary touching of switches during flight was avoided. Engines and systems were constantly monitored. The entire flight completed safely without any incident. After reaching Bengaluru, the crew recorded this in the PDR-Pilot Defect Report. Air India sent this matter to Boeing Company for further advice. The Air India engineering team conducted the investigation as per the procedure prescribed by Boeing. During investigation, it was found that both left and right fuel switches were checked. Both switches were found completely fine.
DGCA said, ‘The locking teeth were sitting in the right place. He was not automatically sliding from the run towards the cutoff. When the switch was pressed in the wrong direction with a finger or thumb, it easily slipped from the run to the cutoff. The reason for this is the angular base plate design of the switch which can slip if pressed at the wrong angle, that is, the way of use is important, not the fault in the design. At the request of Boeing, the amount of force required to unlock the fuel switch was investigated. This investigation was done on both the switch of the same aircraft and the switch of another aircraft. In every case the strength was found to be within the prescribed limits. All this investigation was done in the presence of DGCA officials.
The method shown in the video was wrong, investigation revealed
DGCA says that the video circulating on social media was also examined and after comparing it with Boeing’s prescribed procedure, it was found that the method shown in the video was wrong. Now Air India has been advised to re-teach and share with all crew members the correct method of using the fuel cutoff switch as prescribed by Boeing.
A technical fault in the aircraft suddenly surfaced on Sunday.
Actually, this investigation has been done after the switch of an aircraft going from London Heathrow to Bengaluru on Sunday broke down. At present Air India has 33 Boeing 787 or Dreamliner aircraft. The airline engineering team was sent for investigation.
Earlier on Tuesday, the airline had said through an email that Boeing’s response was awaited. Our engineers have checked the fuel control switch with utmost care. It was also said that some planes have been inspected and no technical faults have been found. Even before this, after the horrific accident of a Boeing 787-8 aircraft in Ahmedabad last year, the fuel control switch was also examined. 260 people were killed in this.
