Air India has grounded a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet after one of its pilots reported a possible defect in the aircraft’s fuel control switch.
The airline said in a statement on Monday that it had informed India’s aviation regulator about the issue and that it was getting the pilot’s concerns checked on a “priority basis”.
The airline did not specify the nature of the issue flagged by its pilot or details of the flight.
But Reuters and The Times of India reported that the defect was flagged after the plane landed in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru after taking off from London.
Last year’s fatal crash of the London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner occurred less than a minute after the plane took off from Ahmedabad airport in western India.
A preliminary report last July said that the plane’s engines shut down after its fuel switches moved from the ‘run’ to the ‘cut off’ position shortly after take-off, but did not establish how this had happened.
I’ll be very curious to hear the outcome of this. On the one hand, Boeing. On the other, these switches really shouldn’t be a problem, they’ve been used for years without issue, and it seems exceptionally unlikely that someone could “accidentally” turn them both off one after another right after takeoff as happened in the fatal crash. And Air India could be reporting an “issue” with them to avoid responsibility, I guess? I’m not sure.
Like I said, very curious.