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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released a rejoinder on Tuesday regarding the purported malfunction of the fuel cut-off switch on Air India Boeing B787-8 aircraft VT-ANX, which was identified by the crew on two occasions on January 1.
They clarified that an external force was applied in the wrong direction, resulting in the switch from "RUN to CUTOFF". "Both left and right switches were checked and found satisfactory, with the locking tooth/pawl fully seated and not slipping from RUN to CUTOFF. When full force was applied parallel to the base plate, the switch remained secure. However, applying external force in an incorrect direction caused the switch to move easily from RUN to CUTOFF, due to the angular base plate allowing slip when pressed improperly with finger or thumb," the rejoinder said. It comes after an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft was grounded after a pilot reported a possible defect in the fuel control switch. An Air India spokesperson said that one of its pilots has reported a possible defect on the fuel control switch of a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, and the matter has been communicated to DGCA, the country's aviation regulator. The spokesperson said the airline is engaging the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to get the pilot's concerns checked on priority. "We are aware that one of our pilots has reported a possible defect on the fuel control switch of a Boeing 787-8 aircraft. After receiving this initial information, we have grounded the said aircraft and are involving the OEM to get the pilot's concerns checked on a priority basis. The matter has been communicated to the aviation regulator, DGCA. Air India had checked the fuel control switches on all Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet after a directive from the DGCA, and had found no issues. At Air India, the safety of our passengers and crew remains a top priority," the spokesperson said. On Monday, following the incident, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) President Captain CS Randhawa urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to immediately investigate possible electrical faults in Boeing 787 aircraft, citing repeated incidents involving uncommanded movement of fuel control switches. Captain Randhawa noted this was the third known incident in which uncommanded movement of fuel control switches had been recorded on a Boeing 787 aircraft. Speaking to ANI, Captain CS Randhawa said, "The first incident on the Boeing 787-800 aircraft took place on 17 February 2019 at Osaka on an ANA flight, which was landing at Osaka, where both fuel control switches on touchdown, when the throttles were brought to idle position, both these switches went to cutoff position automatically due to an electrical malfunction of the TCMA. We have been relating the same theory for the Air India 171 crash on 12th June at Ahmedabad. This is the third incident where there has been an uncommanded movement of the fuel control switches on the Boeing 787 aircraft." (ANI)
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