FAA's 2018 warning ignored by Air India
A recent probe into the Air India AI-171 crash uncovered that back in 2018, the US aviation authority (FAA) had warned airlines about a possible flaw in Boeing 737 fuel switches.
The issue? If the locking feature wasn't working right, it could accidentally shut off engines mid-flight.
While this warning showed up in the investigation, it wasn't named as the exact cause of the crash.
Air India skipped deeper checks since following FAA's advice wasn't mandatory
In the AI-171 incident, both engines suddenly stopped after takeoff—even though there were no earlier signs of trouble. The pilots tried to restart them but couldn't, as cockpit recordings later confirmed.
Although parts like the throttle control module were swapped out over time, these fixes didn't address that original FAA concern.
The catch: Air India skipped deeper checks since following the FAA's advice wasn't mandatory—leaving a gap in safety that's now raising eyebrows.