Interim report on Air India crash found no urgent safety concerns on Boeing 787-8 or its engines: FAA tells counterparts

The U.S. aviation safety regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has written to its counterparts around the world acknowledging the preliminary findings into the Air India Boeing 787-8 crash of June 12 and informing them that the report has “found no urgent safety concerns” related either to the engines or airplane systems of the Boeing 787-8, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

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The interim report of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the Indian agency investigating the crash, stated that the switches that supplied fuel to the two engines on the aircraft shifted or “transitioned” to the ‘CUTOFF’ position three seconds after the aircraft became airborne. Later, there was a loss of engine thrust and both engines shut down, resulting in the crash.

In its July 11 notification, the FAA also acknowledged the reference in the preliminary report to the American regulator’s advisory in December 2018 about the potential of the lock on the switch that supplies fuel to the engine getting disengaged. But the U.S. regulator made no new recommendations on safety measures needed by airlines.

“The FAA has said that it will continue to share relevant information,” the official quoted above said.

Two-step action needed to move fuel switch

The switches are guarded by brackets and feature a spring-loaded locking mechanism in order to prevent accidental activation. To move a switch from RUN to CUTOFF, a pilot has to perform a two-step action — lift the switch over a metal stop before pulling it down.

While the U.S. regulator has not provided any new guidance, it has reminded the civil aviation authorities about its previous advisory, i.e, Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) dated December 17, 2018.

There are 77 airlines across the world that have the Boeing 787 aircraft in their fleet. There are 171 Boeing 787 aircraft in the U.S., and 1,189 across the world.

The AAIB report said that Air India did not carry out the recommendations made in the FAA’s 2018 advisory on the potential disengagement of the lock on the fuel switches that required inspection of aircraft, as well as replacement of the switches carrying specific serial numbers with “an improved locking feature”. It added that Air India explained that this was so because the FAA bulletin “was an advisory and not mandatory”. The report also found that no defects in the fuel control switch of this aircraft had been reported after 2023, when the throttle control module of the cockpit control panel was last replaced on this aircraft.

The FAA’s Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin dated December 16, 2018, said the airworthiness concern is not an unsafe condition that would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action. While an advisory provides a non-mandatory guidance, an AD provides mandatory guidance and recommendations to ensure airworthy aircraft.