By Abhigit Ganapavar and Lisa Barrington
New Delhi (Reuters) -Nindia on Monday ordered its airlines to look at the fuel switches of several Boeing models, while South Korea ordered a similar measure on Tuesday as the inspection intensified with the switching of the fuel switching at the center of the death of a deadly crash.
The safety movements on both sides and airlines in several others have come, despite the US aviation administration, assuring airlines and regulators in recent days that the Boeing fuel switch is safe.
A preliminary report on the Air India crash, which killed 260 people, found that the switches were almost simultaneously transferred from the running position to the interruption shortly after the departure.
One pilot was heard on the voice recorder of the cockpit asking the other why he cut the fuel. “The other pilot replied that he had not done it,” the report said.
The report notes a consultation for 2018 by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which it recommends but not appointed, operators of several Boeing models, including 787, to check the locking function of fuel switches to ensure that they cannot be moved accidentally.
The Directorate -General for Civil Aviation has said it has issued an investigation order for locks of several Boeing models, including 787 and 737, after several Indian and international airlines began to check fuel switches.
The regulator controls the world’s third largest and fastest growing aviation market. Boeing planes are used by three of the four largest airlines in the country.
Protective inspections
Some airlines around the world have told Reuters that they have been checking the relevant switches from 2018 in accordance with FAA consultations, including Qantas Airways in Australia and Ana in Japan.
Others said they had made additional or new checks after the preliminary report in the Air India crash.
Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday that the safety inspections of the fuel switches of its 787 fleet, including planes used by its low -cost subsidiary SCOOT, confirmed that everyone was functioning properly.
The Lufthansa Group said it had checked the re -deployment of its 787 after the Air India incident after initially checked them in 2018 and found no problems.
The Ministry of Transport in South Korea said it ordered local airlines on Tuesday to check fuel control switches in accordance with the 2018 consultative FAA.
“At that time (2018), this was a recommended measure and it was not completely inspected,” the media said.
Flag Correan Korean airlines said on Tuesday, a check of fuel control switches had begun.
Japan Airlines said he was conducting inspections in accordance with the 2018 Advisory Board.
Taiwan’s Eva Air said it was necessary that no further checks on Boeing 787s were needed.
Checks
Boeing referred to Reuters to FAA, who did not answer a comment request. Boeing’s shares closed 1.6% higher on Monday after there were no recommended action on operators from 787 aircraft or GE engines in the report.
Over the weekend, the Air India Group has begun to check the locking mechanism for the fuel switches of its 787 and 737 fleets and has not yet found problems, said a source familiar with the question on Monday.
About half of the 787 years of the group have been inspected and almost all of its 737s, the source added, talking to anonymity. The inspections were to be completed in a day or two.
Air India’s preliminary report said the airline did not carry out the FAA’s proposed inspections, since the FAA consultation for 2018 was not a mandate.
But it also said that maintenance records show that the throttle control module, which includes fuel switches, was replaced in 2019 and 2023 on the plane involved in the crash.
In an internal note on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report did not establish that no mechanical or maintenance had been carried out and that all the necessary maintenance had been carried out.
(Reporting Abhigit Ganapavaram in New Delhi and Lisa Barrington in Seoul; additional reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul; Ilona Wisenbach in Frankfurt and Ben Blanchard in Taipai; Editing by Peter Count, Jamie Fried and Bernadet Baum)