Investigators probing the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash that killed 260 people on 12 June last year have found no abnormality in the fuel control switch locking mechanism of the ill-fated aircraft, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday, 29 June. The plane went down just 35 seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, in one of India's deadliest aviation disasters in recent memory.

What the Fuel Control Switch Examination Revealed

A detailed inspection of the fuel control switch — including the structural integrity of its locking detents — returned no evidence of a defect, according to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, who addressed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The switch had been sent for advanced testing by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) on the orders of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), as part of continuing airworthiness checks initiated after the aircraft type was grounded in February this year.

Thrust Control Module Inspection Still Underway in Seattle

'Inspection of the complete Thrust Control Module at the OEM's facility is underway,' Mohol told the House, quoting the latest findings. The examination is being conducted at Seattle, where the manufacturer's facility is located. While the fuel control switch has been cleared of any structural defect so far, investigators are awaiting the outcome of this broader thrust control module review before drawing further conclusions.

AAIB Final Report: Government Pushes Back on Delay Allegations

The government dismissed suggestions that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) had delayed its final report on the AI-171 crash. Mohol maintained that investigations into major air crashes do not follow a fixed timeline and that the inquiry is progressing in accordance with established international investigation procedures. 'All probable causes and contributing factors leading to the accident are being investigated,' he said in the House.

The minister added that the probe is now in its 'final stages', though no specific completion date was provided. Notably, this comes more than a year after the crash, a duration that critics have flagged as unusually long, even as the government frames it as procedurally standard for complex aviation accidents.

Report to Be Made Public on Completion

The government confirmed that the final investigation report — containing all findings of the probe — will be made public and uploaded on the AAIB's website once the investigation is concluded. The assurance comes amid sustained pressure from families of victims and aviation safety advocates for transparency in the probe's findings.

The DGCA had grounded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner type in February, a move that preceded the advanced component-level testing now underway. How the thrust control module examination concludes is expected to be a pivotal determinant of the final accident report's findings.