Air India says no issues in locking mechanism of fuel control switches in Boeing fleet
The announcement followed a preliminary investigation into last month's Air India plane crash that the switches shifted and flipped within seconds, starving both engines of fuel.
Air India operates a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners for long-distance operations, while subsidiary and low-cost unit Air India Express operates the Boeing 737 jets for short-haul flights.
The airline inspected its entire fleet of both types of aircraft. 'In the inspections, no issues were found with the said locking mechanism,' the airline's statement said.
The investigation by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau into the London-bound plane that crashed in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad on June 12, killing 260 people, is centered around the fuel control switches on the Boeing 787 jetliner. One person survived the crash.
Last week, India's aviation regulator ordered all airlines operating several Boeing models to examine fuel control switches and submit their findings to the regulator by July 21.
Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet, and Air India Express operates 75 Boeing 737 jets.
In the past few weeks, the airline has faced disruptions in services amid heightened scrutiny and additional safety inspections, leading to flight delays, cancellations and growing passenger anxiety.
On Monday, an Air India Airbus 320 flight veered off the runway as it landed during heavy rainfall at Mumbai International Airport, partially damaging the underside of one of the plane's engines and leading to a temporary runway closure.
The flight had flown from Kochi in the southern state of Kerala. The airline said in a statement that all passengers and crew members disembarked safely and the aircraft was grounded for checks.
In another incident, an Air India flight from Hong Kong had a fire in its auxiliary power unit Tuesday while passengers were exiting the aircraft after it landed in New Delhi.
'The auxiliary power unit was automatically shut down as per system design. There was some damage to the aircraft, however, passengers and crew members disembarked normally, and are safe,' the airline said. Its statement added the aircraft was grounded for investigation and the aviation safety regulator notified.
Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled national carrier to private ownership after decades of government control.
The $2.4 billion deal was seen as the government's effort to sell off a loss-making, state-run businesses. It also was in some ways a homecoming for Air India, which was launched by the Tata family in 1932.
Since the takeover, Air India has ordered hundreds of new planes worth more than $70 billion, redesigned its branding and livery and absorbed smaller airlines that Tata held stakes in. The company additionally has committed millions of dollars to digital overhauls of aircrafts and refurbishing interiors of more than five dozen legacy planes.
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Family of British victim in Air India plane crash given ‘wrong body': Report
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NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Air India Crash: We're All Terrified Of Flying Now, Thanks To Conspiracy Theories
The investigation into the tragic crash of Air India flight AI 171 last month has become a subject of intense speculation, memes and long posts on social media. It has also quickly eroded public trust in the investigator as well as the process of investigation. This is a sad state of affairs and also a bit scary, since erosion of trust has triggered apprehensions among the travelling public about air travel. I know of many erstwhile frequent fliers, who thought nothing before taking a flight for work or leisure, now hesitating before making the next flight booking. Some have been barred from flying by families, others remain confused over which aircraft type to fly and whether to risk a long-haul flight, weighing the option of postponing the flight altogether. Took a flight today and the panic post Air India is real - My neighbour was like what's the smoke when they initially spray the disinfectant (I think) - People were extremely attentive to the instructions sitting at the exit door - The air hostess had to literally explain why… — Kirtan A Shah, CFP® (@KirtanShahCFP) June 20, 2025 Speculation Abounds A million theories of what went wrong had already been circulated when the buzz reached a crescendo last week, after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released a preliminary report. In a poorly worded and somewhat verbose report, the AAIB indicated that the cockpit crew could be responsible for the tragic accident, while seemingly absolving the aircraft manufacturer and other stakeholders. Two specific words or phrases in the report are telling. One, the use of the word "transitioned" in reference to fuel cutoff switches. Second, the report has quoted a part of the conversation between the two pilots, in which one is heard asking the other whether he "cut off". The report says the aircraft "achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec". What does "transitioned" mean? Were they moved, or did the switches malfunction? Unless the AAIB was prepared to go further and clarify this, either way, what was the crying need to even mention the 'transitioning' of fuel switches in a preliminary report? The Cost Of Dilly-Dallying As per ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) guidelines, a preliminary report of any accident should ideally be released within 30 days, and the investigator is expected to share "critical initial facts" to enable immediate safety actions globally. The 30-day deadline is meant to compel investigators to prioritise the collection and reporting of readily available, verified factual and circumstantial information, rather than waiting for exhaustive analysis. Obviously, then, the deadline is not meant to encourage speculation, which the AAIB seems to have encouraged, knowingly or unknowingly, by using vague terms like fuel switch transition. Besides, experts have pointed out that while the ICAO norms encourage a preliminary report within 30 days, the AAIB charter has no such requirement, and in at least one previous air crash, the AAIB did not release any preliminary report at all. So, the agency actually had the option of not going through the paces and releasing anything at all. That it chose to do so on the 30th day, past midnight, points to myriad pressures on the investigating team. The Western media thereafter made matters worse by speculating further on pilot suicide theories, quoting unnamed sources. Then, the second word or phrase which stands out in the preliminary report is the mention of a part of the conversation in the cockpit. The AAIB has chosen to reveal that one pilot asked the other about why he "cut off," and the latter replied he did not. Without spelling out which pilot posed the question and which one answered, a Pandora's box has been opened. Not only does providing just a sentence of the conversation in the cockpit fail to give the full picture of what transpired, but there is no clarity on what the pilots were actually talking about. Questions With No Answers Was this conversation about fuel cutoff or something else? If it was about fuel cutoff, which pilot posed the question? AAIB has itself said that it recovered two hours of audio from the flight data recorders. The words "cut off" could have referred to anything - engine, instruments, etc, not necessarily fuel switches. What the preliminary report has also done is this: it has provided a virtual clean chit to Boeing & Co. The report says that at this stage of the investigation, "there are no recommended actions to B787-8 and/or GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers". No one wants to fly Air India anymore. For years, people tolerated bad service, delays, rats and broken TV systems etc, but now it's about existential threat to life. Brand is badly damaged. Tata took it easy and focused on bells & whistles changes instead of improving customer… — Rajesh Sawhney 🇮🇳 (@rajeshsawhney) June 15, 2025 Again, a mere preliminary report need not have been in such undue haste to absolve either Boeing or any other stakeholder of negligence or faults. The report should have stuck to facts. It should have given out the sequence of events; details of the number of crew involved and their experience (without identifying them); number of casualties and number of injured; and the fact that both aircraft engines flamed out. Nothing else was needed in the preliminary report. Flaws are emerging even in the constitution of the probe team. Until recently, no senior pilot had been included in the team, since only Air India has a fleet of Dreamliners, and the AAIB probably wanted to avoid allegations of any bias. Then, despite more than a month having elapsed, the AAIB has not found the time to launch an appeal for the public to depose with any evidence about the crash. The Buzz In Parliament As the buzz about the crash and the AAIB's insinuations gets louder, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu has had to assert in Parliament that the AAIB is unbiased and has been conducting a probe based on rules and regulations. His comments follow an appeal by the AAIB itself, urging the media and the public to refrain from "spreading premature narratives that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process". There are really only two options now to mend the situation: either AAIB release further details of the cockpit conversation and reasons for the crash, or it follow the dictum of 'Mum's the Word' and carry out further investigation out of public glare. Rebuilding public trust in the probe - and Indian aviation- itself is the need of the hour.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
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Air India crash aftermath: What are the steps Centre is taking to strengthen India's aviation sector? Union Minister answers
Air India Flight 171 crash: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has recently released its preliminary report of the investigation into the June 12 Air India plane crash at Ahmedabad (AI-171). However, a detailed investigation is in progress to determine the probable cause(s)/ contributory factor(s) leading to the accident. The tragic accident killed 260 people (241 on board and 19 on the ground). In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Murlidhar Mohol, MoS, Civil Aviation said that the data from one of the Flight Recorders of AI-171 (VT-ANB) has been downloaded in the Flight Recorder Lab of the AAIB at Udaan Bhawan. He also stated that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has undertaken several efforts to strengthen the country's aviation safety on a regular basis. 'An Investigation has been ordered by Director General (DG), Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) under Rule 11 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents & Incidents) Rules, 2017 to determine the probable cause(s)/ contributory factor(s) leading to the accident. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – India has a robust mechanism to enhance the aviation safety to ensure the safe operations,' the Union Minister said. A look at the steps taken by the DGCA for ensuring safe flight operations in the country:
