DGCA asks airlines to check fuel switches of Boeing planes

Aviation safety watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday directed airlines to carry out checks in the locking mechanism of fuel control switches of Boeing aircraft in their fleets.

This important directive comes days after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its 15-page preliminary report of the probe into the tragic Air India Boeing Dreamliner crash at Ahmedabad on June 12, in which 260 people were killed.

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According to one of the important findings of the report which was released on early Saturday, was that the twin engines of the ill-fated Boeing plane shut down seconds after take-off as the fuel supply was cut off.

Both fuel control switches supplying fuel to the engines of Air India flight 171 were turned off in quick succession, shutting down both the engines, before the plane crashed in Ahmedabad seconds after taking off, revealed the report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

The report raised fresh concerns over the aircraft’s engine fuel cutoff switches, as they transitioned from ‘Run’ to ‘Cutoff’ just 3 seconds after take-off.

The cockpit voice recording of the crashed plane revealed one pilot asking the other: “Why did you cut off?” to which his colleague replied: “I didn’t.”

The AAIB report also mentions FAA’s 2018 bulletin that had warned of a potential malfunction of the fuel control switches, manufactured by US-based Honeywell, in a few Boeing models such as the 737s which also use the same switches.

The bulletin recommended that carriers operating Boeing models, including the Dreamliner, inspect the locking mechanism of the fuel cut-off switches — a step not taken by Air India, according to the AAIB report.

Air India informed investigators that it did not carry out suggested inspections as they were “advisory” in nature and not “mandatory”.

However, after the Air India crash, some airlines, such as Emirates, that have Boeing planes in their fleets, are reported to be carrying out checks on the fuel switch locking mechanism on their own after the crash as part of enhanced safety measures.

Meanwhile, the USA’s Federal Aviation Administration has informed civil aviation authorities of other countries that fuel control switch designs, including the locking feature, installed in Boeing planes, including the Dreamliner involved in the Air India crash at Ahmedabad, are safe.

The US aviation safety regulator has stated that no airworthiness directive is deemed necessary for Boeing operators at this time.