Weeks after Ahmedabad Air India crash, DGCA asks airlines to inspect..., Boeing 787, 737 aircraft will now be...
Ahmedabad Air India crash: Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday asked airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes, a move that comes days after the preliminary probe report into the Air India's Boeing 787 crash found that the switches were cut off before the accident last month.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), back in 2018, had flagged the potential disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature on certain models of Boeing aircraft, including 787s and 737s. It was mentioned in a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) but there was no airworthiness directive, indicating that the issue was not a safety concern.
On Monday, DGCA said it has come to its notice that several operators, internationally as well as domestic, have initiated inspection of their aircraft fleet as per the FAA's SAIB.
'… all airline operators of the affected aircraft are hereby advised to complete the inspection… no later than 21st July 2025. Inspection plan and report after accomplishment of inspection shall be submitted to this office under intimation to concerned Regional Office,' the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in an order.
Fuel control switches regulate the flow of fuel into aircraft engines. Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air and SpiceJet are among the domestic carriers operating Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft.
In its preliminary report on the Boeing 787-8 crash released on Saturday, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the fuel supply to both engines of the plane was cut off within a gap of one second, causing confusion in the cockpit soon after take off.
'In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report said. However, AAIB did not mention any recommended action.
Air India flight AI 171, operated with the Boeing 787-8, enroute to London Gatwick crashed soon after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, killing 260 people.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
24 minutes ago
- Mint
Air India announces partial resumption of international flights it had put on hold after plane crash in Ahmedabad
Air India will partially restore its international flight schedule which were put on hold following the flight AI171 plane crash on June 12, the airline said on Tuesday. 'The pause enabled Air India to perform additional precautionary checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft as well as accommodating longer flying times arising from airspace closures over Pakistan and the Middles East," the airlines said. According to the Air India statement, it will resume its thrice-weekly service between Ahmedabad and London Heathrow from August 1 to September 30. This service will replace the currently operating five-times-a-week flights between Ahmedabad and London Gatwick. Delhi-London (Heathrow): Air India will resume two weekly flights previously curtailed, with all 24x weekly flights operating from July 16 onwards. Delhi-Zurich: The airline will increase Delhi-Zurich flights from 4x weekly to 5x weekly, effective August 1. Bengaluru-London (Heathrow): Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly; will further reduce to 4x weekly, effective August 1, 2025. Amritsar-Birmingham: Remains reduced from 3x weekly to 2x weekly until August 31; to operate 3x weekly, effective September 1. Delhi-Birmingham: Remains reduced from 3x weekly to 2x weekly. Delhi-Paris: Reduced from 12x weekly to 7x weekly, effective August 1. Delhi-Milan: Reduced from 4x weekly to 3x weekly, effective July 16. Delhi-Copenhagen: Remains reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly. Delhi-Vienna: Remains reduced from 4x weekly to 3x weekly. Delhi-Amsterdam: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly; to resume 7x weekly, effective August 1. Delhi-Tokyo (Haneda): Reinstated two weekly flights previously curtailed, with all 7x weekly flights operating from August 1 onwards. Delhi-Seoul (Incheon): Reinstated two weekly flights previously curtailed, with all 5x weekly flights reinstated from September 1 onwards. Bengaluru-London (Heathrow): Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly; will further reduce to 4x weekly, effective August 1, 2025. Amritsar-Birmingham: Remains reduced from 3x weekly to 2x weekly until August 31; to operate 3x weekly, effective September 1. Delhi-Birmingham: Remains reduced from 3x weekly to 2x weekly. Delhi-Paris: Reduced from 12x weekly to 7x weekly, effective August 1. Delhi-Milan: Reduced from 4x weekly to 3x weekly, effective July 16. Delhi-Copenhagen: Remains reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly. Delhi-Vienna: Remains reduced from 4x weekly to 3x weekly. Delhi-Amsterdam: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly; to resume 7x weekly, effective August 1. Delhi-Washington (Dulles): Remains reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly. Delhi-Chicago: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 3x weekly (to operate 4x weekly in August). Delhi-San Francisco: Remains reduced from 10x weekly to 7x weekly Delhi-Toronto: Remains reduced from 13x weekly to 7x weekly Delhi-Vancouver: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 4x weekly Delhi-New York (JFK): Reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly, effective July 16. Mumbai-New York (JFK): Reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly, effective August 1. Delhi-New York (Newark Liberty): Reduced from 5x weekly to 4x weekly, effective July 16. Delhi-Melbourne: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly. Delhi-Sydney: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly. Delhi-Nairobi: Reinstated services, operating 3x weekly until 31 August; to be suspended from September 1-30. Amritsar-London (Gatwick) (AI169/170): 3x weekly flights Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) (AI145/146): 3x weekly flights Bengaluru-Singapore (AI2392/2393): 7x weekly flights Pune-Singapore (AI2111/2110): 5x weekly flights
News18
33 minutes ago
- News18
Air India Announces Partial Restoration Of International Flights
Air India on Tuesday announced partial restoration of international flight schedules. The decision comes weeks after Ahmedabad plane crash. As per the official statement, the partial restoration will begin from August 1, 2025, while the full restoration is planned from October 1, 2025. Air India took 'safety pause" after the deadly June 12 Ahmedabad air crash that killed 260 people. The airline in its official statement said the pause enabled it to 'perform additional precautionary checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft as well as accommodating longer flying times arising from airspace closures over Pakistan and the Middle East."
Economic Times
37 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Singapore Airlines checks its Boeing 787 fuel switches, says they are functioning property
Agencies Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines on Tuesday said all fuel switches on its Boeing 787 aircraft -- as well as those belonging to its subsidiary Scoot -- are functioning properly in compliance with regulatory requirements. "As a precautionary measure, SIA and Scoot have carried out and completed checks on the fuel switches of the Boeing 787 aircraft in our fleet," the Channel News Asia quoted SIA as saying. SIA has 26 B787 planes in its fleet, while its low-cost, wholly owned subsidiary Scoot has 23. "The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority," said SIA, which is a 25.1 per cent partner of Air India and operator of daily SIA-Scoot flights to India. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is also working with SIA and Scoot to conduct inspections of the fuel control switches of all active Singapore-registered Boeing 737, 787 and 747-400F aircraft, according to the Channel report. "There have been no findings from the inspections to date," CAAS said. India, South Korea, and Japan had reported similar moves after a preliminary report on last month's Air India crash showed that the controls of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were moved from the "run" to "cutoff" position, starving the engines of fuel, according to media reports. The preliminary report noted a cockpit recording where one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he cut off the engine of flight AI171 which crashed just after take-off in Ahmedabad. "There's no way that you can accidentally knock it and then it goes in the opposite direction," the Channel had Chow Kok Wah, a former airline executive in aircraft maintenance, as saying. The June 12 787-8 Dreamliner (AI171) crashed after take-off, hitting a medical college hostel, leaving 260 people dead - 229 passengers and 12 crew members as well as people on the ground.
