FAA sees no mechanical issue with 787 Boeing fuel control unit after Air India crash

OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday the fatal crash last month of an Air India Boeing BA

OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday the fatal crash last month of an Air India Boeing BA.N 787 jet does not appear to have been caused by a mechanical issue or inadvertent movement of the fuel control unit or switches.

“We can say with a high level of confidence is it doesn’t appear to be a mechanical issue with the Boeing fuel control unit,” Bryan Bedford, the FAA’s administrator, told reporters on the sidelines of an air show in Wisconsin.

He said FAA employees had taken the units out, tested them and had inspectors get on aircraft and review them. “We feel very comfortable that this isn’t an issue with inadvertent manipulation of fuel control,” he said.

The probe into the Air India crash, which killed 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, is focused on the fuel control switches of the Boeing 787 jetliner.

Boeing and Air India did not immediately comment.