Air India AI-171 Crash: Fuel Valve Warning Ignored Weeks Before Tragedy, Investigation Reveals Boeing-FDA Disconnect

New Delhi: As the investigation into the catastrophic crash of Air India flight AI-171 continues, chilling new details have emerged suggesting that a critical safety warning related to Boeing aircraft may have gone unheeded just weeks before the June 12 disaster that claimed 241 lives.

Investigators are now focusing on potential malfunctions in the fuel shutoff valve system—a component flagged in May 2025 by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA notice, dated May 15, cited a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directive warning of “an unsafe condition” involving fuel shutoff valve actuators on Boeing aircraft, including the 787 Dreamliner, the same model as the ill-fated AI-171.

The CAA, referencing the FAA’s airworthiness directive, highlighted the risk posed by faulty valve components that could impair fuel flow during flight. Yet despite the alert, Boeing and the FAA publicly maintained that the design posed no immediate hazard.

“The FAA has issued an Airworthiness Directive addressing a potential unsafe condition affecting fuel shutoff valves installed on Boeing aircraft,” the CAA stated. However, Boeing continued to assert the component met safety standards, a stance reaffirmed by the FAA on July 11, just a day before Air India’s CEO addressed the media.

The focus of the probe has now narrowed to the aircraft’s Throttle Control Module (TCM), which contains the fuel switch mechanism. The component had been replaced twice—once in 2019 and again in 2023—as part of Boeing’s routine maintenance guidelines. Still, a 2018 FAA advisory had urged voluntary checks on the locking mechanism, a recommendation Air India reportedly did not act upon.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, responding to rising criticism, said on Monday, July 14, that the airline followed all regulatory protocols. “The preliminary report has identified no cause nor made any recommendations. We must wait for the full investigation before assigning blame,” he said, defending the decision not to inspect non-mandated parts.

The airline also claimed that the 2018 advisory was not binding, and hence, inspections of the locking mechanism were not considered obligatory.

Experts say the 59-second sequence from engine anomaly to impact is consistent with a sudden and catastrophic systems failure, potentially linked to fuel supply interruption. However, official sources stress that conclusions are premature, and all findings remain provisional.