Air India grounds Boeing Dreamliner jet after pilot flags fuel switch issue

Air India said on Monday it had grounded a Boeing Dreamliner after one of its pilots reported a possible defect with the aircraft’s fuel control switch, which is at the centre of an ongoing probe into a deadly air crash last year.

The airline did not specify the nature of the defect or provide details of the flight. But two sources said the pilot had reported the defect after the plane landed in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru after taking off from London.

Air India said on Monday it had grounded one of its Boeing Dreamliners after one of its pilots reported an issue with the fuel control switch, which is at the centre of an ongoing probe into a deadly air crash last year.

“We have grounded said aircraft and are involving the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to get the pilot’s concerns checked on a priority basis,” the airline said, adding that the matter has been communicated to India’s aviation regulator.

Boeing and India’s civil aviation ministry, which houses the aviation regulator, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Tata Group and Singapore Airlines-owned carrier has faced intense scrutiny since a Dreamliner crash in June last year killed 260 people.

Air India said on Monday it had checked the fuel control switches on all Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet after a directive from the regulator last year, and had found no issues.

A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the June 12 Air India flight suggested that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines, a source briefed on US officials’ early assessment of evidence told Reuters last year.