New Delhi. In view of the possibility of malfunction in the fuel switch of Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the aircraft was stopped from taking off. The aircraft’s pilots had reported a possible malfunction of the fuel control switch. On this matter, Air India spokesperson said, ‘We are aware that one of our pilots has reported a possible malfunction in the fuel switch of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. After receiving this initial information, we have stopped the said aircraft from flying.
Quoting sources it has been said that there were more than 200 people on board the plane. Air India said, ‘The manufacturer is contacting the company to conduct a priority investigation into the pilot’s concerns. Information about this matter has been given to the aviation regulator, DGCA. Following DGCA’s direction, Air India had checked the fuel control switches of all Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet and no problem was found. This incident has happened at a time when the investigation into the Dreamliner plane crash that took place in Ahmedabad in June last year is going on.
Demand for investigation of the plane intensified
According to the Safety Matters Foundation, the crew of Air India flight AI132 reported that while turning on the fuel switch of the left engine of the Boeing Dreamliner, it started moving towards ‘cut off’ instead of being locked in the ‘run’ position. Because of this, there may be a possibility of the engine shutting down inadvertently during flight.
This Air India plane took off from London’s Heathrow Airport at 9.19 pm on Sunday night. The plane landed in Bangalore at 11.54 am on Monday. On the matter, Boeing said that it is in touch with Air India and is cooperating with them in reviewing the matter. There was no immediate comment from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the matter.
Why is the similarity being linked to the Ahmedabad plane crash?
On June 12, 2025, Air India’s London-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad.
A total of 260 people including 241 passengers died in this accident.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating the Ahmedabad plane crash.
The AAIB, in its preliminary report, had said that the fuel supply to both the engines of the aircraft was cut off within a span of one second, causing confusion in the cockpit soon after take-off.
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What is fuel switch locking system?
This system controls the supply of fuel to the aircraft engine. If there is a problem with this, there may be a risk of the engine shutting down or the fuel supply stopping. Therefore DGCA has taken it seriously. DGCA has asked all airlines to conduct technical inspection of all aircraft in their Boeing 787 and 737 fleet and submit reports. If a fault is found in an aircraft, it will have to be rectified immediately, until then the aircraft will not be able to fly.
Fuel switch’s connection with Ahmedabad plane crash
The AAIB, which is investigating the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, said in its preliminary report that both the engines of the Boeing Dreamliner plane that crashed had shut down seconds after takeoff due to fuel supply interruption. An investigation into the black box of the Air India plane revealed that in the final moments of the flight, the cockpit voice recorder revealed one pilot asking the other why he had turned off the fuel switch. To this the other pilot replied that he did not do so. The investigation revealed that the fuel switches were turned to cutoff shortly after takeoff, cutting off fuel supply to the aircraft’s engines. After the report, questions were raised about the fuel switches on Boeing’s planes and it was suspected that the fuel switches were closed due to a technical fault.