An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight was grounded at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on Monday after a possible issue in the fuel control switch was detected, said an official of the Tata-owned airline. The flight, AI 132, was flying to Bengaluru from the Heathrow Airport in London.
However, the Air India official said that no issues were found following a thorough checkup, adding that it has informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the civil aviation regulator, about the situation. The airline also asserted that the safety of the passengers is Air India's main priority.
"We are aware that one of our 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 Air Indian spokesperson said.
"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. At Air India, the safety of our passengers and crew remains top priority," the spokesperson added.
The deadly crash in Ahmedabad
This incident has brought back the memories of the July 2025 crash, when an Air India Dreamliner had crashed in Gujarat's Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff, killing 260 people, which included 241 passengers. The incident had happened after the fuel control switches of the aircraft, which was also flying to London, got switched off.
The matter is being probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which in its preliminary report had said the fuel supply to both engines of the aircraft had stopped, which caused a chaos in the cockpit and led to the crash.
Meanwhile, the government has said that all probable causes of the crash are being probed. "All probable causes leading to the accident are being investigated, and all efforts are being made to complete the investigation in a time-bound manner," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol told Rajya Sabha on Monday in a written reply during the ongoing Parliament Budget Session.
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