An Air India Boeing Dreamliner flight was detected with a fuel switch failure on Monday, which led to it being grounded at the Heathrow airport in London. The flight, AI 132, was scheduled to leave for Bengaluru.
The left fuel control switch failed to stay in the ‘run’ position twice and moved to ‘cutoff’ during engine startup, an airline spokesperson told NDTV.
“We are aware that one of our pilots has reported a possible defect on the fuel control switch of a Boeing 787-8 aircraft. After receiving this initial information, we have grounded the said aircraft. Involving with the OEM to get the pilot’s concerns checked on a priority basis,” the airline said in a statement.
Air India added that it has communicated the matter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The Tata Group-owned carrier had previously examined all the fuel switches after a directive from the DGCA, and had found no issues. “At Air India, safety of our passengers and crew remains top priority,” the spokesperson said.
Notably, the incident involving the AI 132 flight has come to light months after the AI-171 flight, also a Boeing Dreamliner plane, crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off. The accident in June had claimed the lives of 260 people.
Air India’s caution towards the health of fuel switches arose after a probe into the AI dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad showed that seconds after takeoff, the plane’s engine fuel control switches went off briefly, starving it of fuel.
Renowned switch-maker Honeywell was drawn into the Air India crash probe after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report mentioned that the fuel switches, manufactured by them, could likely be faulty.
The report mentioned that the two pilots argued over the fuel switches not functioning immediately after the take-off before their communications went silent owing to the crash within 32 seconds.
The US Federal Aviation Administration had, in a 2018 report, flagged a potential fault in the switches’ locking mechanism.
“Boeing informed the FAA that the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on various Boeing airplane models. The table below identifies the affected airplane models and related part numbers (P/Ns) of the fuel control switch, which is manufactured by Honeywell,” the report had mentioned.
ALSO READ: AI-171 Crash Probe Points At Honeywell-Manufactured Switches Flagged By FAA In 2015
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