Air India crash updates: Boeing defends fuel switch safety amid concerns by victims’ families over ‘vague’ report – UK Times

New clues into the plane crash reveal that the fuel switches flipped almost simultaneously from “run” to “cutoff” just after takeoff. The preliminary report does not explain how the switches could have moved to the “cutoff” position during the flight.

The fuel control switches, prominently located on the critical cockpit control panel, regulate the flow of fuel into each of the plane’s two engines.

Pilots flying the aircraft use fuel cutoff switches to start or shut down engines on the ground. In the event of an engine failure during a flight, the pilots can manually shut down or restart engines using these switches.

They are centrally located on the pedestal between the two pilot seats, positioned just behind the throttle levers.

India’s leading pilots’ body, ALPA India, has strongly rejected any presumption of pilot error in last month’s fatal Air India crash that claimed 260 lives.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the association called for a “fair, fact-based inquiry” and urged that it be included in the investigation as an observer.

“The pilots’ body must now be made part of the probe, at least as observers,” ALPA India President Sam Thomas told Reuters on Sunday.

The call comes amid scrutiny of the preliminary investigation report, which highlighted the sudden cutoff of fuel to both engines shortly after takeoff.

The report cited cockpit voice recordings in which one pilot asked the other why he had shut off the fuel, only to be told he had not.

The fuel switches had flipped from “run” to “cutoff” almost simultaneously, though the report did not explain how this could have occurred mid-flight.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing have privately notified airlines and regulators that fuel switch locks on Boeing aircraft are safe, despite concerns raised in a preliminary report into last month’s Air India crash that killed 260 people.

In a Continued Airworthiness Notification issued on 11 July, the FAA said it did not consider the issue an unsafe condition warranting further directives. Boeing echoed the FAA’s stance in a recent message to operators, stating no further action was needed.

The notification said “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.”

India’s investigation had cited a 2018 FAA advisory about fuel switch locking mechanisms.

However, both the FAA and Boeing maintain there is no fault in the design.

Indian pilots’ union ALPA India has urged authorities to include it as an observer in the ongoing probe.

AirIndia, in a statement, said it is fully cooperating with authorities investigating the crash.

“AirIndia is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses,” it said.

The plane’s black boxes — combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders — were recovered in the days following the crash and later downloaded in India.

Indian authorities had also ordered deeper checks of AirIndia’s entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet to prevent future incidents. AirIndia has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.

Aviation expert and former airline pilot Terry Tozer said the engine cut-off switches being switched to off only seconds after takeoff was “absolutely bizarre.”

The movement of the fuel control switches allows and cuts fuel flow to the plane’s engines.

“Unfortunately, the altitude was so low that the engines were only beginning to recover and they didn’t have enough time,” Tozer told Sky News.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing have privately issued notifications that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes are safe, a document seen by Reuters showed and four sources with knowledge of the matter said.

A preliminary report into the Air India crash said that the fuel switch to the engines had been cut-off after take-off.

The FAA’s message to Civil Aviation Authorities said: “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.”

Boeing also referred to the FAA notification in a Multi-Operator-Message sent to the airlines in the past few days, which said it is not recommending any action, two of the sources with direct knowledge said.

The UK government has said it will review India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s report into the tragedy.

On board the Air India flight bound for London Gatwick were 53 British nationals.

A Department for Transport spokesperson told the BBC: “This was a tragic accident, and our thoughts remain with the victims and their families.”

They continued: “The UK welcomes the publication of the Indian Authorities’ preliminary report, and will review this in detail and consider if any action is required.”

The fuel switches that were cut off before the Air India plane crash are the kind used on every flight, and designed so that this cannot easily “accidentally” happen, an aviation expert has said.

The fuel switches are used at the end of every flight and in emergency scenarios such as a fire, director of aerospace and aviation at Cranfield University, Professor Graham Braithwaite said, adding that pilots would generally run through a checklist before turning them off.

He said: “For obvious reasons, the two switches are a distance apart, so not a huge distance, but enough that you couldn’t accidentally switch two when you’re trying to switch one.

“So it’s not like the lights in your house, where they’re right next to each other, so there is some space between them.

“They’re in that centre console, so that’s in between the two pilots, so they can each reach them with the same ease.”