Preliminary Report Page: 16 of 16

JustusW
February 02, 2026, 16:56:00 GMT
permalink Post: 12031195

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pilot DAR

The preliminary report tells of both fuel cut off switches being found in the run position, and states that they were both moved from run to cutoff after takeoff within a second or so of each other, and then back to run. Nothing authoritative I have read so far from the Air India 171 crash suggests that either one of the fuel cutoff switches were defective. Indeed, the events of the accident suggest that when operated, they functioned exactly as intended! Their being found in the run position removes doubt that they (the locking feature) were operating properly. I think that the report of today, if credible, is unrelated to the 171 crash in causal information.

If the detent is misaligned/damaged enough the upper stable position may not be fully reachable and the switch might instead rest in a pseudo stable position prone to collapse due to vibration or other outside forces.

> The FAA issued Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) No. NM-18-33 on December 17, 2018, regarding the potential disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature. [...] Both fuel control switch were found in the \x93RUN\x94 position.

So correction first: It wasn't an Airworthiness Directive, it was just an SAIB, but also the above is the only information provided by the preliminary report. Notably they did not comment in any way on the state of the guard/detent.
I'd not dismiss this event so out of hand. After the 171 crash every single pilot flying for Air India surely has heard that those switches are blamed, right? For any of them to be willing to faff around with those seems alarming and, for me at least, points to possible normalization of deviance. It may be practice for them to not treat these switches as a potential flight safety issue.

Subjects FAA Fuel (All) Fuel Cutoff Fuel Cutoff Switches Fuel Cutoff Switches (detent) Preliminary Report SAIB NM-18-33 Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin

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