Qantas and ANA both carried out inspections of the fuel control switches on their Boeing fleets, following a US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notice in 2018 which highlighted potential issues with the switches locking feature.
The notice has been under review over the past week, following the discovery that both fuel control switches were turned off prior to the crash of Air India Flight 171 in June.
In December 2018, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a notice about a potential issue with the fuel control switch locking feature on 737 aircraft. Some operators reported that these switches were installed without the locking feature engaged. However, the FAA did not consider this issue serious enough to require a mandatory fix.
A Qantas spokesperson told Airline Economics that the airline, along with its subsidiary Jetstar, inspected the fuel cutoff switches on all their 787 and 737 aircraft following the release of the FAA’s 2018 notice.
Similarly, Japan’s ANA said the airline had conducted inspections that align with the notice. “No additional inspections have been conducted in response to the Indian authorities' report,” an ANA spokesperson confirmed to Airline Economics.