Just four weeks before the Air India Boeing 787-8 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had flagged fuel control switches on several Boeing planes and ordered daily checks. The UK aviation regulator issued a safety notice on May 15 instructing operators of five Boeing models, including the 787 Dreamliner, to review a US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airworthiness Directive (AD) and determine whether it affected their fleet.
The FAA directive had flagged fuel shutoff valve actuators as a potential safety concern. “The FAA has issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) addressing a potential unsafe condition affecting fuel shutoff valves installed on the following Boeing aircraft: B737, B757, B767, B777, B787,” the CAA notice read.
The regulator directed airline operators to test, inspect, or replace fuel shutoff valve actuators on Boeing 787s, among others. Moreover, the safety notice specifically ordered that daily checks of the fuel shutoff valves be carried out on aircraft impacted by the AD.
The matter came to the fore after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India noted in its preliminary report on the Air India crash that fuel control switches, which regulate the flow of fuel to each engine, unexpectedly moved to “CUTOFF” shortly after liftoff, disabling both engines.
Meanwhile, CEO Campbell Wilson in a communication to select employees of the carrier said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary report on the plane crash found no mechanical or maintenance issues. According to the communique, Wilson stated that all mandatory maintenance checks were completed. There was no problem with the quality of fuel and no abnormality during the take-off roll, he said.
The pilots had also passed their mandatory pre-flight breathalyser tests, which did not reveal any unusual observations regarding their medical status, he added.
