NEW DELHI: The Centre has said that Boeing’s detailed examination of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fuel control switch locking mechanism found no abnormality, months after an Air India pilot flagged a possible issue with the system after operating a London-Bengaluru flight.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had ordered the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) level testing in Seattle as part of continued airworthiness checks after the February 2026 incident.
“Detailed examination of Fuel Control Switch, including structural integrity of Fuel Control Switch detents, was carried out and no abnormality was observed. However, further inspection of the complete ‘Thrust Control Module’ at the OEM facility is underway," Mohol said in a written reply.
The development comes amid heightened scrutiny of the Dreamliner's fuel control switches following the fatal crash of Air India flight AI171, which killed 260 people after the aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12 last year.
On February 2, an Air India pilot reported a defect in the fuel control switch after operating flight AI132 from Heathrow (London) to Bengaluru. The airline grounded the Boeing 787-8 for precautionary checks after it landed, prompting the DGCA to direct Boeing to carry out detailed testing of the fuel control switch locking mechanism at its Seattle facility.
Soon after the incident, Air India said it had completed precautionary inspections of the fuel control switches across its operational Boeing 787 fleet and found no defects.
The issue has since gained wider significance after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary report into the AI171 crash said fuel supply to both engines was cut off within one second of each other shortly after take-off. The report also cited cockpit voice recorder evidence indicating confusion between the pilots.
“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he cut it off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the preliminary report said. Mohol also rejected suggestions that the crash investigation had been delayed and said that accident probes of this scale follow evolving timelines.
“The timeline for a major accident investigation cannot be predicted, as it depends on several factors and is an evolving process involving multiple variables. The investigation is under progress. All probable causes and contributing factors leading to the accident are being investigated,” he said.
The Minister was responding to a question from Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Mather on the delay in the AAIB’s final report. In an interim statement issued on June 12, the AAIB said the investigation had made significant progress and that the final report would be released after completion of all investigative work, international review and mandatory consultation processes.