Air India crash: SIA, Scoot find no issues with Boeing 787 fuel switches after precautionary checks
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SIA has 26 B787 planes in its fleet, while Scoot has 23.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
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SINGAPORE - Precautionary checks by national carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its budget arm Scoot have confirmed that all the fuel switches on their fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft are functioning properly and comply with regulatory requirements.
The checks were made after a preliminary investigation report on the Air India crash in June
SIA has 26 B787 planes in its fleet, while Scoot has 23.
“The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority,” an SIA Group spokeswoman told The Straits Times on July 15.
In addition to the checks on the 787 planes, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) also said it was working with SIA and Scoot to inspect the fuel control switches of all active Singapore-registered Boeing 737 and 747-400F aircraft.
CAAS’ director of flight standards Foong Ling Huei said there have been no findings from the inspections to date.
The interim report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released on July 11 stated that the fuel control switches of Flight AI171 were moved to the “cut-off” position
In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he cut off fuel to the engines. The other pilot responded that he did not do so.
The AAIB report did not say how or why the fuel switches were moved.
However, it flagged a 2018 advisory from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that recommended, but did not mandate, the inspection of the locking feature of the fuel switches of several Boeing models to ensure they could not be moved accidentally.
The locking mechanism requires flight crew to lift the fuel switch before they can be moved to a different position.
Since the release of the AAIB report, other airlines around the world have also begun to conduct inspections on these fuel switches.
This is despite Boeing and the FAA privately issuing notifications to airlines and regulators that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes were safe and checks were not required, according to a Reuters report.
Over the July 12 weekend, Air India Group started inspecting the locking mechanism on the fuel switches of its Boeing 787 and 737 planes. No problems have been found so far.
India’s civil aviation authority on July 14 also ordered airlines that operate specific Boeing aircraft
South Korea’s Transport Ministry was said to be preparing to order all of its airlines to do the same.
Etihad Airways has ordered an inspection of the fuel switch locking mechanism on its Boeing jets too. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier also directed its crew to “exercise caution” while operating the fuel switches on Boeing 787 aircraft.
