Did Air India miss B787 fuel switch issue: Experts question
Issue involving fuel control switches (FCS) of Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet brings focus on whether the airline missed the defect during the safety check post the Ahmedabad crash involving Dreamliner.
- Feb 3, 2026,
- Updated Feb 3, 2026 2:47 PM IST
The fuel control switches (FCS) defect flagged by Air India crew has brought focus if the airline failed to notice the issue during the safety checks of its Dreamliner fleet after the Ahmedabad crash that killed 260 people in June 2025, question experts. The airline has ordered another round of check post recent incident.
After landing at Bengaluru from London, Air India Pilot of AI132 on Monday recorded FCS issues in the defect logbook. The noting mentioned that the left engine fuel switch slipped from RUN to CUT OFF and that it was not getting locked in its position.
Amit Singh of Safety Matters Foundation said the Boeing 787 fuel switch failed during flight AI132, moving toward CUTOFF on engine start is the exact malfunction warned of by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2018. “This comes after the airline said its fleet-wide checks found no issues. With the tragic AI171 787 accidents under investigation, this repeat failure demands immediate, transparent action from DGCA and Boeing,” said Singh.
Air India has 26 B787-8 in its fleet of 190 aircrafts. Air India conducted a series of safety checks on its fleet post the crash and there was no issue found with the FCS. Air India is largest operator of 33 aircrafts of B787, including seven B787-9, in India. IndiGo has some B787 on lease from the Nordic airlines.
Several aviation experts have flagged manufacturing defect with the Boeing B787 Dreamliner aircraft post the crash. A US-based aviation safety group in its Whistleblower Report to the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) on January 12 said the crashed Air India aircraft experienced variety of engineering, manufacturing, quality, and maintenance problems throughout its 11-year life.
“This led to electrical systems failures to include circuit breakers repeatedly tripping, electronics/avionics/software faults, wire damage, smoke & fumes, short circuits, loss of electrical current, electrical surges, burning, and overheating of power distribution components including a very serious fire,” it said.
The preliminary report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released a month later triggered controversy as it had an excerpt of a conversation between the pilots, where one of them could be heard asking the other why they cut off the fuel supply to the engine.
The US-based Foundation for Aviation Safety said that the documents indicate systems failures started the very first day the airplane arrived in India on February 1, 2014.
The fuel control switches (FCS) defect flagged by Air India crew has brought focus if the airline failed to notice the issue during the safety checks of its Dreamliner fleet after the Ahmedabad crash that killed 260 people in June 2025, question experts. The airline has ordered another round of check post recent incident.
After landing at Bengaluru from London, Air India Pilot of AI132 on Monday recorded FCS issues in the defect logbook. The noting mentioned that the left engine fuel switch slipped from RUN to CUT OFF and that it was not getting locked in its position.
Amit Singh of Safety Matters Foundation said the Boeing 787 fuel switch failed during flight AI132, moving toward CUTOFF on engine start is the exact malfunction warned of by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2018. “This comes after the airline said its fleet-wide checks found no issues. With the tragic AI171 787 accidents under investigation, this repeat failure demands immediate, transparent action from DGCA and Boeing,” said Singh.
Air India has 26 B787-8 in its fleet of 190 aircrafts. Air India conducted a series of safety checks on its fleet post the crash and there was no issue found with the FCS. Air India is largest operator of 33 aircrafts of B787, including seven B787-9, in India. IndiGo has some B787 on lease from the Nordic airlines.
Several aviation experts have flagged manufacturing defect with the Boeing B787 Dreamliner aircraft post the crash. A US-based aviation safety group in its Whistleblower Report to the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) on January 12 said the crashed Air India aircraft experienced variety of engineering, manufacturing, quality, and maintenance problems throughout its 11-year life.
“This led to electrical systems failures to include circuit breakers repeatedly tripping, electronics/avionics/software faults, wire damage, smoke & fumes, short circuits, loss of electrical current, electrical surges, burning, and overheating of power distribution components including a very serious fire,” it said.
The preliminary report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released a month later triggered controversy as it had an excerpt of a conversation between the pilots, where one of them could be heard asking the other why they cut off the fuel supply to the engine.
The US-based Foundation for Aviation Safety said that the documents indicate systems failures started the very first day the airplane arrived in India on February 1, 2014.