New Delhi [India], July 22: Air India announced on Tuesday that it has successfully completed precautionary inspections of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) locking mechanism on all Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet, with no issues detected. The Boeing 737 aircraft are part of the fleet of Air India Express, the low-cost subsidiary of Air India.
The airline stated, “Air India has completed precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet. Boeing 737 aircraft are part of the fleet of Air India Express, Air India’s low cost subsidiary. With this, the two airlines have complied with the directives of the DGCA issued on July 14, 2025.”
Air India began these voluntary inspections on July 12, completing them within the timeframe prescribed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The findings, confirming no issues with the locking mechanism, have been communicated to the regulator. The DGCA had mandated these inspections for all Indian carriers operating certain Boeing 787 and 737 models by July 21, following the preliminary report into the Air India AI171 crash.
AI171 Crash Investigation Ongoing; No Prior Adverse Trends Reported
Meanwhile, MoS Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol informed Parliament on Monday that no adverse trend was flagged or reported in the reliability reports of Air India for the crashed AI171 flight during the six months prior to the accident. This statement came in response to a written question from Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas regarding any prior safety concerns.
Mohol also noted that nine show cause notices have been issued to Air India over the last six months in connection with five identified safety violations, with enforcement action completed for one violation.
Regarding the reasons for the tragic AI171 crash on June 12 in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people (241 on board and 19 on the ground) when the plane crashed into a doctors’ hostel, the minister reiterated that the investigation is ongoing. A preliminary report published by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on July 12, available on their website, indicated that the fuel control switches of the crashed aircraft were found in the “cutoff” position, leading to mid-air engine failure. The AAIB investigation is working to determine the probable cause(s) and contributory factor(s) of the accident. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has affirmed that the AAIB probe is unbiased and that the decoding of the black boxes was successfully completed in India for the first time.
The MoS Civil Aviation also informed the Upper House that there are 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in the fleet of Indian carriers, with two currently under scheduled maintenance. He clarified that there is no proposal under consideration to withdraw Boeing 787 Dreamliners from the civil aviation sector or to initiate a CBI inquiry into the crash.