Air India on Wednesday completed a thorough inspection of the locking mechanisms in fuel control switches (FCS) across its Boeing 787 fleet and found no issues, an airline official confirmed.
"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 inspections have been completed and no issues were found," the official said, quoting an internal message sent to Air India pilots.
The official also said that all the Boeing 787-8 aircraft have undergone Throttle Control Module (TCM) replacement as per the Boeing maintenance schedule. FCS is part of this module.
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The inspections came in response to heightened scrutiny following the deadly Ahmedabad plane crash last month that killed 260 people.
The airline has also asked pilots to remain vigilant and report any defect in the technical log, as per the existing reporting process, the official added.
{{/usCountry}}The airline has also asked pilots to remain vigilant and report any defect in the technical log, as per the existing reporting process, the official added.
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On Monday, aviation watchdog DGCA directed airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes, citing AAIB's preliminary report stating that fuel switches were cut off before last month's Air India plane crash.
According to the AAIB's 15-page report released Saturday, both engines lost power almost simultaneously when the fuel control switches — which regulate the flow of fuel to the engines — shifted from the "run" to "cutoff" position within the space of one second.
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"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off? The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the report said.
While the AAIB did not assign blame or recommend immediate corrective actions, it did reference a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) issued earlier by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), indicating ongoing global concern about the integrity of the FCS locking systems.