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Etihad's big order to pilots on fuel switches as Air India crash probe deepens, Korea plans similar move
The directive comes after a probe report on the Air India plane crash said that both fuel switches flipped from 'RUN' to the 'CUTOFF' shortly after take-off.
The Etihad Airways has ordered their pilots to "exercise caution" with fuel switches on the Boeing 787 aircraft, The Hindu reported on Monday.
The directive came on the day of a preliminary probe report on the June 12 Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad was released, revealing that both fuel switches on the flight flipped from the 'RUN' to the 'CUTOFF' positions shortly after take-off.
South Korea is also planning a similar move for its airlines operating Boeing aircraft, news agency Reuters reported. The country is preparing to order all its airlines that operate Boeing planes to examine the fuel control switches.
Meanwhile, besides ordering pilots to tread carefully with the switches, Etihad Airways has also ordered an investigation into how the fuel control switches operate.
Etihad's orders to pilots and South Korea's reported plan for a similar move for its airlines follow a notification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing that said the fuel control switches on its planes, including 787, were not unsafe.
“Although the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on various Boeing airplane models, the FAA does not consider this issue to be an unsafe condition that would warrant an Airworthiness Directive on any Boeing airplane models, including the Model 787,” the notification to Civil Aviation Authorities, seen by news agency Reuters, read.
Etihad's mandates, S Korea's plans
According to The Hindu, Etihad released a bulletin on July 12, the day the Air India plane crash's probe report released, asking pilots to “exercise caution when operating the fuel control switches or any other switches/control in their vicinity”.
The airline says that that this measure is being taken "out of an abundance of caution".
A separate bulletin from Etihad mandates inspections of the fuel control locking mechanism across its Boeing 787 fleet, with a detailed guide for engineers to verify proper engagement of this feature, the publication further reported.
It has also directed pilots to avoid placing objects on the pedestal to avoid accidental movements, and ordered the crew onboard to report anything unusual.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of South Korea is also preparing checks on the fuel control switches in Boeing planes operated by its airlines. However, there is no timeline for these examinations yet.
They come in accordance with a 2018 FAA advisory, which recommended Boeing model operators to inspect the locking feature of the fuel switches. The same advisory was also cited in the Air India crash probe report released recently.
Findings in Air India probe report
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released a preliminary probe report on the Air India flight crash on July 12, exactly a month after the deadly crash of the Boeing 787 aircraft in Ahmedabad killed 260 people, including 241 on board.
The report's findings revealed that switches that regulate fuel supply to the engines shifted from 'RUN' to the ‘CUTOFF’ within a second of each other, and both engines of the aircraft shut down mid-air just seconds after take-off.
It also records a conversation between the two pilots in the cockpit, quoting one of them as saying “Why did you cut off?”, to which the other responds, “I didn’t.”
