On February 2, 2026, Air India Flight 132 departed London Heathrow for a scheduled passenger flight to Kempegowda International Airport.
The 9 hour and 45 minute flight on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was uneventful and it landed safely in Bengaluru (Bangalore) at 11:54 local time the next day.
The accident part occurred before the flight, documented in the report presented after the flight, which has reopened the discussion about the fatal crash of Air India Flight 171 in 2025.
At London Heathrow, during engine start, the flight crew moved both fuel control switches to the RUN position. Both fuel switches were set correctly.
The flight crew then rechecked the switches by tapping them gently. The left switch slid to the CUT position.
The crew moved the left switch back to RUN and touched it again. The switch went back to CUT OFF.
They tried it a third time. This time, the left switch remained in the RUN position.
After confirming that the switch was closed, they decided to continue. The flight left 35 minutes late, at 7:19 p.m. local time.
Once they landed in Bengaluru, the captain documented the defect in the maintenance log.
LEFT FUEL CONTROL SWITCH SLIDES FROM RUN TO OFF WHEN PUSHED DOWN SLIGHTLY, DOES NOT LOCK INTO POSITION
Air India grounded the plane.
We are aware that one of our pilots has reported a possible defect in the fuel control switch on a Boeing 787-8 aircraft. After receiving this initial information, we have grounded said aircraft and are engaging the OEM to verify the pilot’s concerns as a priority. The matter has been reported to the aviation regulator, DGCA.
Why is this news? For Air India Flight 171, which crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad last June. The DGCA preliminary report stated that both engine fuel control switches were moved from RUN to CUTOFF within a CC BY-SA 2.0 second of each other. The preliminary report does not draw any conclusions about the cause. However, the evidence suggests that one of the pilots flipped the switches, either in a very strange and improbable mistake or intentionally, with the intention of crashing the plane in a suicide/murder.
I wrote about it here: Air India 171 crash caused by fuel outage
That plane was also a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
This is why the issue with Air India Flight 132 made aviation headlines. If there is a problem with the fuel switches being able to move to OFF on their own, that would change everything.
This is exactly the angle of the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), which has argued that the 787’s move to a “more electric aircraft” has introduced a digital failure mode that did not exist on older Boeings. They used this new incident to make a public statement last Tuesday, as reported by ANI News: All B-787s must be grounded and checked for electrical faults: FIP President CS Randhawa
Since the first day after the AI-171 accident, we have insisted that the electrical systems of all B-787s be checked. We have gone on record in the media and written letters to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and DGCA that the fuel control switches may have moved automatically due to electrical faults of the TCMA in the AI-171 accident.
On a Boeing 737, the fuel control switch is a physical lever that traditionally has a mechanical or hardwired electrical link to the fuel valves. On the 787, switches provide electrical inputs to the aircraft’s central computers, which then command the full authority digital engine control (FADEC) to turn on or off fuel.
The Federation of Indian Pilots argues that water leaking into the plane’s main electronic compartment could cause a sensor error and trigger a logic shutdown, shutting down the engines electronically regardless of the setting of the physical switches.
The Air India Flight 132 log report appears to be considered proof that it is possible for a switch to physically move without the pilot pulls to unlock the switch. If this is true, then it contradicts the preliminary report that since the switches were mechanically sound, a person must have moved them.
Air India responded the same day with an email to all its B787 pilots, which was published by NDTV news:
“Following the reported defect involving a fuel control switch on one of our B787 aircraft, Engineering has escalated the matter to Boeing for priority evaluation.” [the VP for flight operations] wrote. “In the meantime, while we await Boeing’s response, our engineers, out of an abundance of caution, have initiated a fleet-wide precautionary re-inspection of the fuel control switch (FCS) latch to verify normal operations. To date, no adverse findings have been reported on the aircraft for which this re-inspection was completed.”
“We would also like to remind all crew to promptly report any defects observed during operations and to ensure that all required actions are completed before accepting the aircraft,” he added.
Boeing evaluated the plane in question, registered in India as VT-ANX, and concluded that there was no problem. The DGCA summarized Boeing’s findings in a statement.
The left and right switches were checked and found to be satisfactory, with the locking tooth/pawl fully seated and not slipping from RUN to CUTOFF. When full force was applied parallel to the base plate, the switch remained secure. However, applying external force in the wrong direction caused the switch to move easily from RUN to CUTOFF, because the angled base plate allowed slippage when incorrectly pressed with a finger or thumb.
But of course our faith in Boeing is not what it once was.
Additionally, they reference a video showing the switches disconnecting.
The video currently circulating on social media was analyzed in light of Boeing’s recommended procedures and it was observed that the procedure demonstrated in the circulating video is incorrect.
The airline is advised to circulate Boeing’s recommended procedure for fuel cutoff switch operation to its crew members.
Pilot error. And the unspoken issue: If it’s easy for a pilot to mistakenly move the fuel switches from RUN to CUTOFF, then that’s a problem that needs solving. It is?
I have not seen the video in question. A viewer claims that the switch on the video has been deliberately tampered with and turned to disable the lock. If anyone has seen this video, maybe they can comment.
However, the argument that this explains what happened on Air India Flight 171 is false. The fuel switching problems reported by the crew of Air India Flight 132 are not related to the faulty electronic arguments put forward by the Pilots’ Federation of India, despite its attempts to connect this flight to the 171 crash.
A design defect that allows a fuel switch to be moved to CUT-OFF with just a light press does not explain what happened on Air India Flight 171. Left and right fuel switches moved to CUT-OFF a second differencewithout anyone realizing that they were repeatedly touching the switches after takeoff.
On Wednesday, Air India said it had completed inspection of its 28 Boeing 787s. Air India completes precautionary checks on Boeing 787 fuel control switches and finds no issues. They agreed that they would circulate the recommended operating procedures for fuel switches to all crew members in accordance with the DGCA guidelines.
That same day, the UK Civil Aviation Authority heavyexpressing “serious concern” about why the plane left Heathrow despite a reported problem with the fuel control switch during pre-flight checks. They have asked Air India to explain how the plane was cleared for take-off, requesting a “…detailed account of all maintenance actions carried out to ensure the continued airworthiness of the aircraft and to support its entry into service.” [for Bengaluru].” They also called for a comprehensive root cause analysis (how the failure occurred; the current response is just a shrug) and a preventive action plan to prevent it from happening again. The CAA warned of coercive measures in case of incomplete or late responses.
This is fair: the fuel switch moving to OFF is a serious malfunction. Deciding to board a nine-hour passenger flight because the switch remained in position on the third attempt is extremely questionable. If the switch is faulty and the crew does not know what caused it to slip, then they should not continue the flight.
This story is not over. Air India has a week to respond to the UK CAA’s queries on Flight 132. Meanwhile, the DGCA’s investigation into Flight 171 continues.
