Air India orders inspection of fuel control switches in its Boeing 787 fleet, but why does this matter?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Air India orders inspection of fuel control switches in its Boeing 787 fleet, but why does this matter?")
Representative Image
On Monday (Feb 2) an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft from London's Heathrow airport to Bengaluru was grounded after the pilot reported a malfunction with the fuel control switch of the flight.
A day after an Air India pilot reported a malfunction in the fuel control switch of a Dreamliner flight from London Heathrow, the airline has ordered an inspection of the fuel control switches across its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. The inspection of half the fleet have been completed while the examination of the remaining aircraft are still ongoing. Notably, no fault has been found in any of the flights so far, reported news agency ANI, citing sources.
The issue has been escalated by Air India to Boeing for a priority evaluation.
On Monday (Feb 2) an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft from London's Heathrow airport to Bengaluru was grounded after the pilot reported a malfunction with the fuel control switch of the flight.
Why is the inspection crucial?
Notably, this problem of malfunction has again come to the fore with Air India's Dreamliner plane after the horrifying Ahmedabad plane crash ( a Air India Dreamliner plane) in which all passengers including the crew was killed, barring one survivor.
The preliminary investigation report into the July 12 Ahmedabad crash revealed that both engine fuel control switches shifted from RUN to CUTOFF shortly after takeoff, cutting engine thrust. Audio from the cockpit captured one pilot questioning why the fuel had been cut, while the other denied initiating the action. Following the loss of power, the aircraft’s Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployed automatically to provide emergency power. Although one engine showed signs of recovery after the switches were reset, the aircraft failed to climb. A distress call was transmitted moments before the crash.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
In total Air India owned by the Tata group has 33 Boeing 787s — 26 legacy Boeing 787-8s and 7 Boeing 787-9s, including 6 from Vistara and a custom-made plane that was inducted into its fleet in January.
And since the problem has been reported for the second time, the airline does not want to take any chance with the safety of its passengers and avoid any repetition of the Ahmedabad crash, even if it was not linked to the fuel control switches.
