The South Korean Transport Ministry said on July 14 that it is preparing to order all airlines operating Boeing aircraft in the country to examine fuel switches, in accordance with a 2018 advisory from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The foreign media spokesperson for the ministry did not give a timeline for the implementation of the checks.
The Epoch Times has contacted Boeing and the South Korean Ministry of Land, Transport, and Infrastructure for comment.
All but one person on board were killed, and 19 others on the ground died when the plane struck a medical college hostel.
The sole survivor escaped through a broken emergency exit and sustained minor injuries.
In that incident, the fuel switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run position to cutoff just after takeoff, but the report did not say how they may have flipped.
However, the Air India preliminary report states that the airline had not performed these inspections, as the FAA’s 2018 SAIB was not mandated.
It also states that maintenance records show that the throttle control module, which includes the fuel switches, was replaced in 2019 and 2023 on the aircraft involved in the crash.
Both engines began to lose power from their takeoff levels as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off, according to the report.
In the plane’s cockpit voice recording, one pilot was heard asking the other why he had cut off the fuel switches, to which the other pilot responded that he had not done so, according to the report.
Airport surveillance footage shows that the Ram Air Turbine—a small turbine on aircraft that serves as an alternate power source—was deployed during the plane’s initial climb just after takeoff. Flight AI171 began losing altitude before it crossed the airport perimeter wall, the report states.
“When fuel control switches are moved from CUTOFF to RUN while the aircraft is inflight, each [engine’s] full authority dual engine control automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction,” the report reads.
Both engines showed signs of relighting, but one failed to arrest core speed deceleration. One of the pilots transmitted “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” before the plane crashed outside the airport boundary, according to the report.
The AAIB stated that it was still reviewing the evidence.
“At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to Boeing 787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers,” it stated.
That incident led to the resignation of Seoul’s then-transport minister and an ongoing criminal investigation by police.
The precise cause of the crash has still not been ascertained by investigators, although one of the pilots told air traffic control that the jet had experienced a bird strike on one of the engines shortly before the crash landing.
