The inspection of fuel switches in Boeing 787 Air India has not revealed any anomaly, according to an internal note released by the company. They had been implicated after the accident which killed 260 dead on June 12 in India.
In a preliminary report, the Indian Office of Investigation of Air Accidents (AAIB) said on Saturday that the kerosene supply of the two device reactors was interrupted just after taking off from Ahmedabad. The cut of these switches caused a sudden loss of power of the engines of the plane, fell on buildings near the city’s airport. The cockpit conversations recorder revealed that one of the pilots asked the other “why he cut fuel food” and that the latter replied “that he did not do it,” said the AAIB.
“Potential disengagement of the locking function”
In the wake of this report, the Directorate General of Indian Civil Aviation ordered to check these devices on several types of Boeing, including the 787, registered in India. “Our engineers have led this weekend checks on the locking systems of these switches on all our Boeing 787”, writes an internal note of Air India to its pilots. “These inspections are completed and have not revealed any particular problem,” continues the document. Other countries have ordered the same control measures to their companies equipped with Boeing 787 Dreamliner, notably Singapore, without detecting the slightest anomaly.
The Federal Administration of American Aviation had published in 2018 an information note on “the potential disengagement of the locking function of the fuel control switch” on certain models manufactured by Boeing, of which the 787. Air India informed the AAIB that it had not then carried out an inspection because this measure was only “advised and not compulsory”.
The Wall Street Journal awarded the on -board commander to cut the two Kerosene power switches, citing sources close to the unidentified file. “The co -pilot expressed his surprise and then panicked, while the commander remained calm,” wrote the American daily, adding that the report had not determined whether the action on the switches had been deliberate or accidental.
Our file on air disasters
On Thursday evening, the AAIB repeated that it was still “too early to draw the slightest final conclusion” on the causes of the disaster in flight 171. “We urge the public and the media to refrain from disseminating premature information that could disrupt the integrity of the investigations,” he added in a press release. In a letter to its employees on Monday, the CEO of the company, Campbell Wilson, also warned against “any premature conclusion”.
