The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday issued a detailed clarification on reports of an alleged malfunction of a fuel cut-off switch on an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft, dismissing suggestions of a technical fault and terming a viral social media video on the matter as incorrect.

The clarification relates to Air India flight AI 132 operating from London to Bangalore on February 1, 2026, using a Boeing 787-8 VT-ANX aircraft. During the engine start in London, the flight crew observed on two occasions that the fuel control switch did not remain positively closed in the “RUN” position when slight vertical pressure was applied. On the third try, the switch engaged correctly and remained stable.

According to the DGCA, the crew conducted a physical check to ensure that the circuit breaker was fully and positively closed before proceeding. No abnormal engine parameters, warnings, cautions or system messages were observed during engine start or at any time thereafter. The flight continued as planned and landed in Bangalore without incident.

After arrival, the crew recorded the observation on the post-flight defect report (PDR). Air India subsequently referred the matter to Boeing for guidance. Based on Boeing’s recommended inspection procedures, Air India’s engineering team examined the fuel control switches.

“Both the left and right switches were checked and found to be satisfactory, with the locking tooth/ratchet fully seated and not sliding 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 easily move from RUN to CUTOFF, due to the angular pressure on the base plate that allowed reading badly with fingers or pencils.

The DGCA added that further pull force checks were done to unlock the fuel control switch using procedures recommended by Boeing. These checks were carried out on the affected switch, the replacement fuel control unit and a fuel cut switch from another aircraft. In all cases, the pulling force to unlock was found to be within the prescribed limits. The inspections were carried out in the presence of DGCA officials.

The regulator also reviewed a video circulating on social media purportedly demonstrating the problem. After analysis, the DGCA concluded that the procedure shown in the video did not follow the method recommended by Boeing and was therefore incorrect.

In light of the findings, the airline has been advised to circulate Boeing’s recommended operating procedure for the fuel cut-off switch to all crew members. The DGCA said the matter does not indicate any systemic safety issue and reiterated that the flight in question was completed safely, without any operational or technical incident.