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India on Monday ordered its airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models while South Korea ordered a similar measure on Tuesday, as scrutiny intensified of fuel switch locks at the centre of an investigation into a deadly Air India crash.
The precautionary moves by the two countries and airlines in several others came despite the planemaker and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration assuring airlines and regulators in recent days that the fuel switch locks on Boeing jets are safe.
A preliminary report into the Air India crash that killed 260 people found that the switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff.
One pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he had cut off the fuel. "The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the report said.
The report noted a 2018 advisory from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which recommended, but did not mandate, operators of several Boeing models including the 787 to inspect the locking feature of fuel cutoff switches to ensure they could not be moved accidentally.
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it had issued an order to investigate locks on several Boeing models including 787s and 737s, after several Indian and international airlines began making their own inspections of fuel switches.
The regulator oversees the world's third-largest and fastest-growing aviation market. Boeing planes are used by three of the country's four largest airlines.
PRECAUTIONARY CHECKS
Some airlines around the world told Reuters they had been checking relevant switches since 2018 in accordance with the FAA advisory, including Australia's Qantas Airways and Japan's ANA.
Others said they had made additional or new checks since the release of the preliminary report into the Air India crash.
Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday that precautionary checks on the fuel switches of its 787 fleet, including planes used by its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, confirmed all were functioning properly.
The Lufthansa group said it had re-checked switches on its 787s since the Air India incident, after initially inspecting them in 2018, and found no issues.
South Korea's transport ministry said it ordered domestic airlines on Tuesday to inspect fuel control switches in accordance with the 2018 FAA advisory.
"At that time (2018), it was a recommended measure and was not fully inspected," the statement to media said.