New Delhi : Air India has ruled out any malfunction in the fuel switches of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft that was grounded after a pilot reported a glitch during a London to Bengaluru flight (AI-132), the aviation regulator said in a rejoinder on Tuesday. The incident occurred on flight AI-132 before it took off from London’s Heathrow airport to Bengaluru on February 1.
The statement said the switch failed to remain locked in the “run” position on two attempts and moved towards “cutoff” during pre-flight checks. These switches basically control the flow of fuel to the aircraft’s engines. Such a malfunction may lead to a possible engine shutdown in flight. The incident occurred on flight AI-132 before it took off from London’s Heathrow airport to Bengaluru on February 1. According to a press release from Safety Matters Foundation, which went viral on social media, the Air India crew reported abnormal behaviour of the left engine fuel control switch.
The development comes amid scrutiny over fuel control switches on Boeing 787 aircraft after the Air India (AI 171) crash in Ahmedabad last June, which killed 269 people. The DGCA, in a statement, said no abnormal engine parameters were observed during engine start or during the flight. Air India’s engineering department also carried out inspections of the fuel control switches.
Both left and right switches were checked and found satisfactory, with the locking tooth/pawl fully seated and not slipping from run to cutoff. When full force was applied parallel to the base plate, the switch remained secure,” the DGCA statement said.
“Engine indications and alerting systems were closely monitored by the crew for the remainder of the flight. The flight was completed without incident,” the DGCA said. The aviation regulator said the pull-to-unlock force of the fuel control switch was checked using Boeing’s recommended procedure. “In all cases, the pull-to-unlock force was found within limits. These inspections were carried out in the presence of DGCA officers,” the statement further said.
Read Also : 8 Congress MPs Suspended In Lok Sabha Amid Chaos Over Ex-army Chief Naravane’s Memoir