Following the Air India Boeing 787-8 crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, which killed 260 people, Air India has completed precautionary inspections of the fuel control switch (FCS) locking mechanisms on its Boeing 787 aircraft and found no issues. The inspections were initiated after India's civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), issued a directive on Monday, July 14, 2025, instructing airlines to inspect the FCS of specific Boeing aircraft models by July 21. This directive followed the release of a preliminary report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) which revealed that the fuel switches in the crashed aircraft had moved from the "run" to "cutoff" position shortly after takeoff.
According to the AAIB's preliminary report, both fuel switches moved from "run" to "cutoff" within one second of each other, leading to the shutdown of both engines shortly after takeoff. The report also indicated that in the cockpit voice recording, one pilot asked the other why he cut off the fuel supply, to which the other responded that he did not. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials' early assessment of evidence, that the first officer expressed surprise that the fuel switches were off and then panicked.
The fuel control switches are located inside the Throttle Control Module (TCM). Air India stated that all of its Boeing 787-8 aircraft have undergone TCM replacement as per the Boeing maintenance schedule. An Air India engineer clarified that the airline replaced the fuel switches as part of throttle control module replacements in 2019 and 2023, consistent with the AAIB report.
The AAIB report referenced a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2018, which recommended inspection of the locks to ensure they could not be moved accidentally. However, Air India did not carry out inspections recommended in the 2018 FAA advisory on fuel control switch safety, as the bulletin was classified as "non-mandatory", the AAIB report said. Following the AAIB findings, the FAA reiterated its position that the condition does not constitute an unsafe situation requiring immediate corrective action.
Despite these findings, Air India maintains that its inspections found no problems with the locking mechanism. ""Over the weekend, our Engineering team initiated precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all our Boeing 787 aircraft,"" the airline's flight operations department said in a communication to its pilots. ""The inspections have been completed and no issues were found,"" the communication said, noting that it had complied with the regulator's directives.
The incident has also prompted other countries to take action. For example, Singapore Airlines reported that checks confirmed that all fuel switches on SIA and Scoot's Boeing 787 aircraft are functioning properly and comply with regulatory requirements.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has raised concerns about how the preliminary report was interpreted and presented publicly. ""Assigning blame before a thorough, transparent, and data-driven investigation is both premature and irresponsible,"" the statement said. Another body, the Air Line Pilots' Association - India (ALPA India), stated that the crew of the crashed aircraft deserve respect, and not unfounded character judgments. The government has urged the public and the media to refrain from jumping to conclusions until the final findings are released, which may take a year.
