India on Monday directed its airlines to inspect fuel control switches on multiple Boeing aircraft models, followed by a similar order from South Korea on Tuesday, as global scrutiny deepened over fuel switch locks believed to be central to the investigation into the deadly Air India crash.
The precautionary measures by India, South Korea and some airlines in other countries came despite the planemaker and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) telling airlines and regulators in recent days that the fuel switch locks on Boeing jets are safe.
A preliminary report into last month's Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash that killed 260 people found that the switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff, starving both engines of fuel.
One pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. "The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the report said.
Released last week, the report did not offer any conclusions as to why the plane crashed. It also did not say how the switches could have flipped from run position to the cutoff during the flight.
The movement of the fuel control switches allows and cuts fuel flow to the plane's engines.
The report noted a 2018 advisory from the FAA, which recommended, but did not mandate, operators of several Boeing models including the 787 to inspect the locking feature of fuel cutoff switches to ensure they could not be moved accidentally.
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it had issued an order to investigate locks on several Boeing models including 787s and 737s, after several Indian and international airlines began making their own inspections of fuel switches.
The regulator oversees the world's third-largest and fastest-growing aviation market. Boeing planes are used by three of the country's four largest airlines.
Some airlines around the world, including Australia's Qantas Airways and Japan's ANA, told Reuters they had been checking relevant switches since 2018 in accordance with the FAA advisory.
Others said they had been making additional or new checks since the release of the preliminary report into the Air India crash.
Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday that precautionary checks on the fuel switches of its 787 fleet, including planes used by its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, confirmed all were functioning properly.
South Korea's Transport Ministry said it ordered domestic airlines on Tuesday to inspect fuel control switches in accordance with the 2018 FAA advisory.
"At that time (2018), it was a recommended measure and was not fully inspected," the statement to media said.
Flag carrier Korean Air Lines said on Tuesday it had proactively begun inspecting fuel control switches.
Japan Airlines said it was conducting inspections in accordance with the 2018 advisory.
Boeing shares closed 1.6% higher on Monday after there were no recommended actions in the report aimed at operators of 787 jets or the GE engines.
Over the weekend, Air India Group started checking the locking mechanism on the fuel switches of its 787 and 737 fleets and has discovered no problems yet, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
About half the group's 787s have been inspected and nearly all its 737s, the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity. Inspections were set to be completed in the next day or two.
The Air India crash preliminary report said the airline had not carried out the FAA's suggested inspections as the FAA's 2018 advisory was not a mandate.
But it also said maintenance records showed that the throttle control module, which includes the fuel switches, was replaced in 2019 and 2023 on the plane involved in the crash.
Some aviation experts in India speculated the crash was caused due to human error based on the preliminary report. At least two commercial pilots' associations have rejected such claims.
The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association in a statement on Sunday said it was "deeply disturbed by speculative narratives... particularly the reckless and unfounded insinuation of pilot suicide."
In an internal memo on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report into the crash of the London-bound plane found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out.
"There was no issue with the quality of fuel and no abnormality with the take-off roll. The pilots had passed their mandatory pre-flight breathalyser and there were no observations pertaining to their medical status," he said in the note.
