Air India begins inspection of fuel control switches in Boeing 787 fleet — Here's all we know

Aviation major Air India has sought help from Boeing to evaluate on a priority basis a fuel control switch malfunction that cropped up on Monday on a London-Bengaluru flight on a Dreamliner or Boeing 787 jet, according to internal communication reviewed by Mint.

The letter, addressed to the Tata Group-controlled airline's Boeing 787 pilots, noted that as a precautionary measure, Air India initiated fleet-wide re-inspection of the component across its 787 fleet.

Boeing said it was supporting Air India. "We are in contact with Air India and are supporting their review of this matter,” the plane maker said in a statement.

Fuel control switches is a critical cockpit part used by pilots to manage fuel flow to engines. Any abnormality in the switch is treated as a safety-critical issue and requires immediate technical assessment by both the airline and the aircraft manufacturer.

The switches were at the centre of last year's crash involving an Air India Dreamliner, which killed 260 people in Gujarat state, triggering tighter scrutiny of the airline. Monday's incident comes as investigation into the crash is still on.

Air India on Monday said in a statement that after a possible defect on the fuel control switch was reported, the airline "grounded the said aircraft and are involving the OEM to get the pilot’s concerns checked on a priority basis”. The airline did not respond to Mint's queries sent on Tuesday. Aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation, too, did not respond to questions sent.

Urgent missive

The Air India letter to its Dreamliner pilots from its vice president, flight operations, Manish Uppal said: “Following the reported defect involving a Fuel Control Switch on one of our B787 aircraft, Engineering has escalated the matter to Boeing for priority evaluation.”

Crew members have been asked “to promptly report” any defects observed during operations and to ensure that all required actions are completed prior to accepting the aircraft.

“To date, no adverse findings have been reported on the aircraft for which this re-inspection is completed,” it said.

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is a key aircraft type for Air India’s long-haul operations. The airline has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet. The last Dreamliner was received in January 2026.

Air India, along with its low cost carrier Air India Express (AIX), has a fleet size of 297 aircraft between Boeing and Airbus.

Experts raise concern

In April last year, the US plane maker had applauded the success of its Dreamliner in a press release, saying the 1,175 aircraft in service have carried more than one billion passengers over 14 years.

Experts have raised questions on the recurring defect.

“What makes this event deeply troubling is not only that it happened, but that it occurred after Air India publicly stated it had conducted precautionary checks across its 787 fleet and found no issues,” said Captain Amit Singh, founder of Safety Matters Foundation, a non-profit safety education platform, in statement Monday.

“This discrepancy raises urgent questions: Were the checks thorough? Is this a new, recurring defect? Passengers and crews deserve unambiguous answers,” he said.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has previously faced operational issues, including serious battery issues in 2013 that led regulators to ground the aircraft worldwide. These problems came from lithium-ion batteries used in the aircraft's auxiliary power unit (APU), which were prone to thermal runaway and fires. The issues ultimately resulted in the grounding of the Dreamliner fleet, with the US civil aviation regulator, Federal Aviation Administration, (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigating the design and manufacturing of the batteries.

Air India had also grounded its aircraft and implemented the required modifications before returning them to service, after which no issues were reported. The June 2025 crash was first involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.