Rescue efforts at the site of the Air India flight crash. The aircraft crashed into a resident doctors' hostel. Photo / Getty Images
Rescue efforts at the site of the Air India flight crash. The aircraft crashed into a resident doctors' hostel. Photo / Getty Images
Dreamliners and Boeing 737s in New Zealand do not need fuel cutoff switch checks despite Indian authorities suggesting they do after last month’s fatal crash.
All but one of 230 passengers on Air India Flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick Airport were killed in the June 12 crash.
OnSaturday, a preliminary crash report said a cockpit voice recording showed one pilot asking another why he cut off fuel supply to the engines.
This week, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation reportedly ordered fuel switch checks on Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 737s by Monday, July 21.
That contradicted United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) guidelines.
Singapore Airlines has confirmed it carried out checks.
However, NZ’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has told the Herald no such checks were needed.
“Currently there is no airworthiness directive requiring inspections of the fuel cutoff switches on Boeing 787s from the state of design ... from the US, where the aircraft was originally designed.”
The authority said it was in frequent contact with the FAA.
“At this stage there are no mandatory inspection requirements associated with the Air India accident, or the preliminary report issued by India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.”
The CAA said Dreamliner and 737 operators should follow FAA recommendations and airworthiness directives.
Air New Zealand, operator of 14 Dreamliners, has been approached for comment.
Singapore Airlines today told the Herald it had checked fuel switches on 787s in its fleet and in budget carrier subsidiary Scoot.
“The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority. Our checks confirmed that all fuel switches on Singapore Airlines and Scoot’s Boeing 787 aircraft are functioning properly and comply with regulatory requirements.”
According to Reuters, the FAA this week said the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, was similar on various Boeing models, and not unsafe.
The crash has prompted speculation which Air India’s New Zealand-born chief executive reportedly sought to address this week.
Campbell Wilson told staff the crash probe was “far from over,” according to an internal memo The Wall Street Journal cited.
Campbell Wilson, chief executive officer of Air India. Photo / Lionel Ng, Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Over the past 30 days, we’ve seen an ongoing cycle of theories, allegations, rumours and sensational headlines, many of which have later been disproven,” Wilson said in the memo.
Airline Pilots’ Association of India president Sam Thomas told the Press Trust of India the preliminary report seemed to focus on “one sentence which is misleading”.
“We are not happy with the investigation. And it is going in the direction of blaming the pilots before even the inquiry is completed.”
Meanwhile, auditors from the International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao) are undertaking a full safety audit of New Zealand’s aviation system this month.
The audit, unrelated to the Air India crash, was announced in February.
The CAA said Icao was conducting detailed interviews with the CAA, Ministry of Transport, Transport Accident Investigation Commission, and other organisations.
The previous full safety audit in NZ was in 2006.
John Weekes is a business journalist mostly covering aviation and courts. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.
