The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing have told airlines that the fuel switch locks on Boeing aircraft are safe, despite new scrutiny following a deadly crash in India.
The FAA’s notification, issued on 11 July, came after a preliminary report into last month’s Air India Boeing 787-8 crash that killed 260 people. The report raised questions about the aircraft’s engine fuel cutoff switches.
In its message to global aviation authorities, seen by Reuters, the FAA said it does not consider the design of the fuel control switches to pose an unsafe condition that would require further directives.
Boeing echoed the FAA’s stance in a communication to airlines, stating no action is currently recommended.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report referenced a 2018 FAA advisory suggesting, but not requiring, inspections of fuel switch locks on certain Boeing models, including the 787. Air India confirmed it did not perform these checks as they were not mandatory.
The report also confirmed that all other safety directives and bulletins were followed.
Meanwhile, ALPA India, representing Indian pilots, rejected any early presumption of pilot error. The group called for a fair, fact-based investigation and asked to be included as observers.
A letter from ALPA India highlighted possible equipment malfunction linked to the fuel control switch gates.
Cockpit recordings revealed that during the final moments of the flight, one pilot asked the other why he had cut off the fuel. The second pilot replied that he had not. The report noted that the fuel switches moved to cutoff almost simultaneously after takeoff but did not explain how.
Two U.S. safety experts supported ALPA India's observer request but said the report did not show bias against the pilots.
The investigation remains ongoing, as calls for a thorough and transparent process continue to grow.
The United States killed four people in a strike against a vessel allegedly carrying illegal drugs just off the coast of Venezuela, U.S. Defence Secre...
Thirty-six Turkish nationals aboard vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was seized by Israeli forces, are expected to return to Türkiye on ...
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas which took part in the 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel, endorsed on Saturday the group's response to the ...
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Israel to halt its bombing of Gaza after Hamas said it was ready to release hostages and agreed to some asp...
Israel struck Gaza on Saturday, local authorities said, after U.S. President Donald Trump had called for a halt to the bombing and said Hamas is ready...
U.S.-based aviation company Boeing is preparing to produce a new narrow-body, single-aisle aircraft to replace its 737 Max model, sources report.
The U.S. envoy to Türkiye has confirmed that a Turkish Airlines’ Boeing aircraft deal has been finalised, marking a significant step in expanding the carrier’s fleet.
Beijing is in talks with Boeing over a potential order of up to 500 aircrafts, a deal that could reshape the U.S. manufacturer’s fortunes in China after years of stalled sales.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is preparing to buy hundreds of Boeing airliners and Lockheed Martin fighter jets in deals worth more than $10 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
Kazakhstan Energy Week underlined that doubling energy efficiency gains could cut global CO₂ emissions by half by 2040, with officials calling efficiency the cornerstone of a pragmatic and balanced energy transition.
World leaders have welcomed Hamas’s reply to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire proposal, with several calling it a rare opportunity to end fighting and secure the release of hostages.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday was “a big day” after Hamas announced it would agree to some terms in his 20-point plan to end the Gaza conflict, including an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
The Commander of Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Police Brigadier General Iraj Kakavand is in Pakistan to discuss increasing the bilateral cooperation against drug trafficking networks, particularly along their shared border.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met French President Emmanuel Macron in Copenhagen on 2 October to discuss regional peace and bilateral relations.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment