“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,” the statement said.
New Delhi: Tata Group-owned Air India on Monday said it has grounded one of its Boeing 787-8 aircraft after a pilot reported a possible defect in the fuel control switch.Soon after receiving the information from the pilot, the aircraft was taken out of service as a precautionary step, Air India said.
The airline has also involved aircraft manufacturer Boeing to examine the issue on a priority basis and address the pilot’s concerns.
An Air India pilot on Monday flagged a possible defect with the fuel control switch of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and the matter has been reported to aviation watchdog DGCA.
The aircraft operated the flight AI132 from London to Bengaluru, and it landed at Bengaluru on Monday morning, according to sources.
In a statement, the airline said it is aware that one of its 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,” the statement said.
The airline added that it is following all required safety procedures while the issue is being reviewed.
The airline further clarified that it had earlier carried out checks on the fuel control switches of all Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet.
These checks were conducted following a directive from the DGCA, and no issues were found at that time.
Air India assured passengers that safety remains its top priority. The airline said the well-being of passengers and crew is paramount, and it will continue to take all necessary steps to maintain the highest safety standards.
The incident assumes significance against the backdrop of concerns in certain quarters about the functioning of the fuel control switch in the ill-fated Air India Dreamliner that crashed in June last year.
In one of the worst aircraft accidents in India, a total of 260 people, including 241 passengers, died after Air India’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171 to London Gatwick crashed soon after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is probing the crash.
In its preliminary report on the crash that was released on July 12 last year, AAIB said the fuel supply to both engines of the plane was cut off within a gap of one second, causing confusion in the cockpit soon after take-off.
“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” it had said.
Earlier on Monday, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol informed the Parliament that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating the Air India flight AI-171 crash at Ahmedabad in June last year from all angles and aims to complete the investigation in a time-bound manner.
The Air India flight AI 171 crashed just seconds after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport into a medical college hostel building, killing 241 passengers and crew on board the plane and another 19 people on the ground on June 12, 2025.
A preliminary report released by the AAIB on July 12 stated that both engines of the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost thrust after the two fuel cut-off switches moved from the ‘RUN’ to the ‘CUTOFF’ position. However, the cockpit voice recorder has revealed that one of the pilots told the other that he did not turn off the fuel control switches. The fuel switches were then returned to the RUN position just before the plane crashed.