‘No issues found’: Air India concludes inspections on locking mechanism of fuel control switch

NEW DELHI: Air India on Tuesday informed that it has concluded inspections on the locking mechanism of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft in its fleet and stated that no issues were found. Air India informed that Boeing 737 aircraft are part of the fleet of Air India Express.

“Air India has completed precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet. Boeing 737 aircraft are part of the fleet of Air India Express, Air India’s low cost subsidiary. With this, the two airlines have complied with the directives of the DGCA issued on July 14, 2025,” the statement read.

Air India said that no issues were found with the locking mechanism of the Fuel Control Switch. “In the inspections, no issues were found with the said locking mechanism. Air India had started voluntary inspections on July 12 and completed them within the prescribed time limit set by the DGCA. The same has been communicated to the regulator,” the statement read.

MoS Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Monday informed the Parliament that no adverse trend was flagged/reported in reliability reports of Air India during the last six months in respect of AI171 that crashed in Ahmedabad last month.

The minister was asked in a written question by Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas whether any adverse observations regarding safety or flightworthiness of the crashed Air India AI171 flight had been flagged before the accident by passengers or the DGCA during the last six months.

“During the last six months, no adverse trend has been reported in reliability reports of Air India in respect of crashed aircraft,” the minister informed Rajya Sabha in his written reply.

The minister, in his reply, also noted that a total of nine show cause notices have been issued to Air India in connection with five identified safety violations over the last six months. “Enforcement action has been completed in respect of one violation,” he added. Asked about reasons for the tragic AI171 crash, the minister said the investigation was on to ascertain the reasons or contributory factors.

An investigation has been ordered by Director General, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau to determinethe probable cause(s)/contributory factor(s) leading to the accident of Air India flight at Ahmedabad on June 12 in which 260 persons were killed including 241 on board and 19 on the ground as the plane stormed into a doctors’ hostel after the crash.

A preliminary report on the accident has been published by AAIB on July 12, and is available on their website www.aaib.gov.in.”The investigation is in progress to determine the probable cause(s)/contributory factor(s) leading to the accident,” the minister said.

In another written answer to a question, the MoS Civil Aviation informed the Upper House that there are 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in the fleet of Indian carriers. Out of which, two are under scheduled maintenance. Asked whether the government intends to withdraw Boeing 787 Dreamliners from the civil aviation sector in the backdrop of the mishap, and whether the government will initiate steps to conduct CBI enquiry on the events that led to the crash, the minister responded, “No such proposal is under consideration”. (ANI)