New Delhi, 17th July 2025:
As the AAIB report on Air India flight AI 117 goes public, worldwide debate was initiated with the selective release of transcription from the CVR of the fatal aircraft, somehow estimating pilot error with managing Fuel Control Switch (FCS). However, the final report is still awaited and the MoCA has also issued an statement to wait and watch and not make any remarks citing anticipation.
Meanwhile, the India aviation regulator DGCA mandated its rule for all Boeing 787 & 737 planes to inspect the locking mechanism of fuel control switches. Adhering to this guideline, Air India acting swiftly on the regular orders, released a statement that it has completed the inspection of the locking mechanism of fuel control switches in its Boeing 787 planes and did not find any issues.
DGCA had directed airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes against the AAIB’s preliminary report stating that fuel switches were cut off before the AI 117 crash in Ahmedabad.
In an internal message which Air India officials had sent to its pilots was posted by media quoted, “Over the weekend, our Engineering team initiated precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all our Boeing 787 aircraft. The inspections have been completed and no issues were found.”
The official also said that all the Boeing 787-8 aircraft have undergone Throttle Control Module (TCM) replacement as per the Boeing maintenance schedule. FCS is part of this module.
Air India has also asked its pilots to remain vigilant and report any defect in the technical log, as per the existing reporting process.
