Indian officials to witness Boeing fuel switch tests in Seattle

Indian air safety officials are travelling to Boeing's facility in Seattle to observe testing of a fuel-control switch module removed from an Air India 787, according to documents seen by Reuters, in a development that directly connects a February defect report to the investigation into last June's fatal crash in Gujarat.

The testing, described by Indian officials as "sensitive," is expected to take place in June, around the anniversary of the Air India crash that killed 260 people. Two officials from India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation will attend at Air India's expense, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The switch module at the centre of the Seattle visit was removed from an Air India 787 in February, after pilots on a London-Bengaluru service reported that a fuel switch did not stay latched on the first two engine-start attempts before stabilising on a third. Boeing subsequently told Air India privately the module was "serviceable," according to an email seen by Reuters, and the DGCA had said the switches passed initial checks.

The module was nonetheless sent to Boeing's Seattle facility for further testing, according to confidential emails seen by Reuters and reported for the first time. DGCA deputy director of airworthiness Manish Kumar wrote in a March 9 email that "the matter is sensitive in nature" and directed Air India to ensure a DGCA officer was present for the strip and test examination.

The significance of the Seattle visit lies in its connection to the Gujarat crash investigation, in which the AAIB preliminary report found that two engine fuel-control switches moved from RUN to CUTOFF within approximately one second of each other, starving both engines of fuel. The switches are designed to be immovable without specific deliberate actions from pilots; investigators are examining whether the simultaneous movement was mechanical or human-caused.

The DGCA's specific focus for the Seattle tests is the switch locking mechanism, including whether external pressure applied at a particular angle could move a switch when it is in the locked position. An Indian government official told Reuters the government "wants to be thorough," speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.

Under international rules, a final AAIB report into the Gujarat crash is due next month, with an interim update required if that deadline is not met; the AAIB did not respond to a request for comment. The convergence of the June testing schedule with the crash anniversary and the final report deadline makes the Seattle visit one of the most consequential near-term developments in the ongoing investigation.

Boeing has not commented publicly on the switch testing or the DGCA's decision to attend. While it is not unusual for aircraft manufacturers to perform strip and test examinations for airline customers, the email record shows India's regulator considered the circumstances unusual enough to require official oversight of a procedure that would typically be conducted without regulatory presence.