- By Shibra Arshad
- Fri, 25 Jul 2025 03:23 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday ruled out the possibility of mechanical failure in the Boeing fuel control unit. The head of the FAA, Bryan Bedford, said that the fatal Air India plane crash that claimed 260 lives in Ahmedabad does not appear to have been caused by mechanical failure or accidental movement of fuel control switches.
Bedford, on the sidelines of an air show in Wisconsin, said that the accident doesn’t appear to be a mechanical issue. "We can say with a high level of confidence is it doesn't appear to be a mechanical issue with the Boeing fuel control unit, FAA head added.
"We feel very comfortable that this isn't an issue with inadvertent manipulation of fuel control," he further stated, adding that FAA employees had taken the units out, tested them and had inspectors get on aircraft and review them.
The investigation into the Air India plane crash that took place seconds after the aircraft took off revolves around the movement of fuel control switches, as the initial probe report by AAIB indicates that the accident took place after the fuel control button was turned to ‘cut’ mode from ‘run’ mode, cutting the supply of oil.
The switches control fuel flow to aircraft engines, allowing pilots to start or shut them down on the ground, or manually intervene during in-flight engine failures.
Air India on Tuesday said that it has inspected the fuel control switch locking mechanism on all 787 and 737 aircraft as a precautionary measure and found no issue.
Earlier this month, the FAA and Boeing privately issued notifications that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes were safe.