India’s aviation authority says it found no faults with the fuel cutoff switches on Boeing 787s after briefly grounding Air India’s fleet of the aircraft for inspections. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) said Tuesday it followed up with Boeing on a snag reported by an Air India 787 crew on Sunday and said the switches work properly when used correctly. The airline said the same thing. “Air India had checked the fuel control switches on all Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet after a directive from the DGCA [Directorate General of Civil Aviation], and had found no issues,” Air India said in the statement.
The issue came up when a 787 crew leaving London had some trouble getting the switches to lock in the “Run” position. After two tries the latches, which require upward vertical movement to actuate, set properly and stayed that way for the flight to Bangalore. The switches are at the center of the investigation into the June 2025 crash of an Air India flight shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad to London. There was a loss of thrust in both engines, and the flight data recorder revealed that the fuel cutoff switches moved from Run to Cutoff three seconds after takeoff. The plane crashed into a university residence building about 30 seconds later, killing all but one of the 242 people onboard and 19 on the ground.
No saris in the cockpit.
The Indians are trying hard to blame the aircraft for what their pilot did.
And it’s not fooling anybody.
The pilots had problems with the fuel cutoff switches staying engaged in the operating position and took off anyway. That doesn’t sound like a thoughtful decision. Particularly with the controversy and potential switch issues related to the Air India crash. A lever lock type switch should remain in the position that it set to and not release or move as a result of an off axis force imparted by the operator. Unfortunately it often takes two major crashes for the authorities, manufacturer, and airline to get serious about addressing an equipment problem that is hard to diagnose and fails intermittently. A stronger spring or more aggressive ramp made of a harder material should be considered or a different locking mechanism should be implemented.
I’m glad they were found to be ok but, at the same time, they should be nowhere near the throttle quadrant. What were they thinking? Idiot pilots couldn’t find them?
This is deeply concerning. A decent locking toggle switch design should not be able to be actuated with an inadvertent swipe of the fingers, hand, or anything else, whether off-axis or otherwise. The SAIB pertaining to these switches states it is possible to install the switches such that the locking feature does not “engage.” If by “engage” they mean “lock”, such a design should be considered unacceptable. An inspection for proper installation might not be sufficient. These cutoff switches continue to be suspect. They must be removed as a potential cause of loss of thrust and loss of airplane through whatever correction action in necessary.
It isn’t possible. This whole grounding and reported issue was most likely a face saving farce to cast doubt on the cause of the crash, as the local media and some officials have repeatedly insisted that it’s impossible this was a deliberate act concocted to look like an accident, which is unfortunately what all evidence points to in this crash. Nobody’s dropping a checklist or swiping a hand clumsily and knocking the fuel cutoff switches to off in a 787. They’re the same basic design as what has been in airliners for decades. Boeing and the regulators were remiss in the single point of failure design of MCAS, but that does not mean every single basic feature in every aircraft they make is a disaster waiting to happen, unlike what many sensationalists describe.