Earlier this week, a new incident involving the Air India Boeing 787-8 brought the Fuel Control Switches back into focus. The incident in focus occurred before the start of the London Heathrow to Bengaluru flight (AI132) on February 2, 2026. The flight was operated, and the issue was logged in Bengaluru. Here is the log entry.
The Indian regulator, the DGCA, noted that no problems were detected with the plane and that it was good to go, although it had been grounded for the past three days after arriving from London Heathrow into Bengaluru. What is still being debated is whether the DGCA had the jurisdiction to grant this “clean chit” in the first place?
Air India issued a statement after the DGCA said all was good. It said,
Air India has completed precautionary re-inspections of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) across all operational Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet. No issues were identified during these checks. The inspections were undertaken in an abundance of caution following an observation reported by one of our pilots. We acknowledge the regulator’s proactive oversight in conducting independent inspections and subsequently clearing the FCS. Air India will fully adhere to the regulator’s guidance to circulate OEM-recommended operating procedures for the operation of the FCS to all crew members. The safety of our passengers and crew remains Air India’s highest priority.
UK CAA serves notice on Air India
Reuters, the news agency, reported last night that the UK’s Aviation Regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, is not satisfied with the course of action. The CAA wants an explanation of how a Boeing 787-8 jet was able to take off from London to Bengaluru despite a fault being identified at London itself. This letter was sent to Air India on February 3, 2026, as per Reuters.
The CAA warned of the possibility of regulatory action against Air India and its Boeing 787 fleet if the airline does not submit a complete response within a week. It wants a “detailed account of all maintenance actions performed to ensure the continued airworthiness of the aircraft and to support its release to service for Bengaluru.” The UK watchdog has also sought a “comprehensive root-cause analysis” of the incident and a “preventive action plan” to prevent similar events across Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet, according to the letter, which was not made public but obtained by Reuters.
Air India, when reached out, presented a similar version as it did after the DGCA reaction. It said,
Air India has completed precautionary re-inspections of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) across all operational Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet. No issues were identified during these checks. The inspections were undertaken in an abundance of caution following an observation reported by one of our pilots.
We acknowledge the regulator’s proactive oversight in conducting independent inspections and subsequently clearing the FCS. The FCS has also been cleared by Boeing.
Air India will fully adhere to the regulator’s guidance to circulate OEM-recommended operating procedures for the operation of the FCS to all crew members.
Air India will respond to the UK regulator accordingly.
The safety of our passengers and crew remains Air India’s highest priority.
-Air India spokesperson
Bottomline
More details are expected to come out (if the UK CAA decides to make it public). The regulator has asked for details from Air India about how, on February 1, 2026, the AI132 flight was allowed to operate after the Fuel Control Switch did not work as intended the first time and the second time around, and what chain of action was taken to determine it was okay for the flight to take off.
What do you make of this situation? Was Air India right or wrong in operating this flight?
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