No issue found with Air India Dreamliner fuel control switches, says DGCA

DGCA says inspections found no issue with fuel control switches on an Air India Boeing 787-8 after pilots flagged abnormal movement during engine start in London

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday said no issue was found during inspections of the fuel control switches of an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft that was used to operate the London-Bengaluru flight AI132 between Sunday and Monday.

 

On Sunday, when engines were started in London, the pilots of the AI132 flight observed on two occasions that the fuel control switch did not remain “positively latched” in the "Run" position when light vertical pressure was applied, the DGCA said in a statement.

 

On the third attempt, the switch latched correctly and remained stable. Before proceeding further, the flight crew physically verified that the switch was “fully and positively latched” in the "Run" position.

   

The DGCA said post-flight inspections carried out according y to Boeing’s procedures found the fuel control switches to be serviceable, with no abnormal engine parameters or alerts observed. The regulator said the switch could move if pressed incorrectly due to its design but that this did not indicate a defect, and advised Air India to circulate Boeing’s operating procedure for the fuel cut-off switches to its pilots.

 

It said that no abnormal engine parameters, cautions, warnings, or system messages were observed when engines were started on B787 plane at London's Heathrow airport, or at any point thereafter. The pilot flying the plane was briefed regarding the aforementioned movement of the left engine switch by the co-pilot, and unnecessary contact with the switch was avoided, and engine indications and alerting systems were closely monitored for the remainder of the flight. “The flight was completed without incident,” the regulator said.

 

After landing in Bengaluru, the pilots reported the observation in the post-flight defect report, following which Air India referred the matter to Boeing for further guidance. Based on Boeing’s recommended checks to establish the serviceability of the fuel control switch, Air India engineering carried out inspections of both the left and right switches.

 

The DGCA said these checks found the switches to be satisfactory. “Both left and right switches were checked and found satisfactory, with the locking tooth or pawl fully seated and not slipping from ''Run” to “Cutoff”, the statement said. The regulator added that when full force was applied parallel to the base plate, the switch remained secure.

 

However, the DGCA noted that when force was applied in an incorrect direction, the switch could move easily from "Run" to ''Cutoff". This, it said, was due to the angular design of the base plate, which can allow the switch to slip if it is pressed improperly with a finger or thumb. The regulator’s statement explained that this behaviour does not point to a defect when the switch is operated according to approved procedures.

 

In addition, the DGCA said the "pull-to-unlock force" of the fuel control switch was checked using Boeing’s recommended procedure. These checks were carried out on the involved switch, on a fuel control unit to be installed, and on the fuel cut-off switch of another aircraft. “In all cases, the pull-to-unlock force was found within limits,” DGCA said, adding that the inspections were conducted in the presence of DGCA officers.

 

The DGCA said Air India has been advised to circulate Boeing’s recommended procedure for the operation of the fuel cut-off switch to its crew members, to ensure correct handling of the switch during aircraft operations.

 

Fuel control switches were a central factor in the Air India Boeing 787 crash (Flight AI171) on June 12 last year in Ahmedabad, in which 241 of the 242 people on board were killed, according to the preliminary report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released in July 2025.

 

The report had said both fuel control switches were moved to the “Cutoff” position in quick succession, and although they were returned to “Run” about 10 seconds later, the engines had already flamed out. According to the report, one pilot had asked the other why he moved the switches, and the other responded by denying it. The report did not specify whether it was the captain or the first officer who asked the question.

 

Checking fuel control switches on all Dreamliners: A-I to pilots

 

Air India (A-I) has started checking fuel control switches on all its B787 Dreamliner aircraft after a pilot on Monday reported abnormal behaviour in the left engine fuel control switch in one of the planes.

 

In a message sent to pilots on Tuesday morning, the airline said that following the "reported defect" involving a fuel control switch on one of our B787 aircraft, the engineering department of the airline has escalated the matter to aircraft maker Boeing for "priority evaluation".

 

“In the interim, while we await Boeing’s response, our engineers -- out of abundance of caution -- have initiated precautionary fleet-wide re-inspection of the fuel control switch (FCS) latch to verify normal operations. To date, no adverse findings have been reported on the aircraft for which this re-inspection is completed,” the airline added.