All Indian Airlines Ordered to Inspect Their Boeing Aircraft

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered all domestic airlines to examine fuel switches on Boeing aircraft, following a preliminary report regarding the Air India crash in June, which indicated that the fuel supply had been halted mere seconds after takeoff.

The UK-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which was carrying 242 passengers, crashed into a medical college dormitory in Ahmedabad, India shortly after its departure on June 12. Only one passenger aboard the crashed plane survived the incident, while nineteen people on the ground lost their lives.

This week, India’s civil aviation authority announced that it had issued this directive after numerous domestic and international airlines had already begun their own inspections of the locking mechanisms associated with the switches. This order applies to both Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Boeing 737 aircraft.

A preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau indicated that the crash in Ahmedabad was due to the fuel supply to the engines being turned off. The cockpit switches that control this supply were shifted to the ‘cut off’ position just seconds after takeoff, resulting in the cessation of fuel flow to both engines, as stated in the report.

It further noted that the engines of the plane were restarted when the switches were turned back on; however, the aircraft continued to descend, leading to a Mayday call.

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Investigators have dismissed fuel quality problems, overloading, bird strikes, and dangerous cargo as potential causes of the crash. All systems were reportedly functioning normally at the time of takeoff. The report does not presently suggest any action against Boeing or General Electric, the manufacturer of the engines. Both companies, along with the US Federal Aviation Administration and the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, are participating in the ongoing investigation.

While Western media have reported that Boeing’s fuel switch locks are secure, airlines in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore have initiated their own inspections as a precautionary measure, according to Reuters. UAE’s Etihad Airways has also reportedly begun its own checks.