India on Monday ordered its airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models, and South Korea ordered a similar measure on Tuesday, as scrutiny intensified of fuel switch locks at the centre of an investigation into a deadly Air India crash.
The precautionary moves by India, South Korea and some airlines in other countries came despite the planemaker and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration telling airlines and regulators in recent days that the fuel switch locks on Boeing jets are safe.
A preliminary report into the Air India crash that killed 260 people found that the switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff.
One pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report said.
The report noted a 2018 advisory from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which recommended, but did not mandate, operators of several Boeing models including the 787 to inspect the locking feature of fuel cutoff switches to ensure they could not be moved accidentally.
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. Boeing planes are used by three of the country’s four largest airlines.
PRECAUTIONARY CHECKS
Some airlines around the world told Reuters they had been checking relevant switches since 2018 in accordance with the FAA advisory, including Australia’s Qantas Airways and Japan’s ANA.
Others said they had been making additional or new checks since the release of the preliminary report into the Air India crash.
Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI said on Tuesday that precautionary checks on the fuel switches of its 787 fleet, including planes used by its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, confirmed all were functioning properly.
South Korea’s transport ministry said it ordered domestic airlines on Tuesday to inspect fuel control switches in accordance with the 2018 FAA advisory.
“At that time (2018), it was a recommended measure and was not fully inspected,” the statement to media said.
Flag carrier Korean Air Lines said on Tuesday it had proactively begun inspecting fuel control switches.
Japan Airlines said it was conducting inspections in accordance with the 2018 advisory.
Over the weekend, Air India Group started checking the locking mechanism on the fuel switches of its 787 and 737 fleets and has discovered no problems yet, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
About half the group’s 787s have been inspected and nearly all its 737s, the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity. Inspections were set to be completed in the next day or two.
The Air India crash preliminary report said the airline had not carried out the FAA’s suggested inspections as the FAA’s 2018 advisory was not a mandate.
But it 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.
In an internal memo on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out.
(Reuters)
