This series of screengrabs of a video taken during an aircraft engineer’s pre-flight check of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner shows the two fuel control switches labeled “run” (switch on) and “cut off” (switch off). The engineer demonstrates that pulling up the switch is needed in order to run the fuel control. Pulling up the lever is again needed to move the switch to the cut-off position.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the same model as that of the ill-fated Air India Flight 171 that crashed after takeoff last June 12. According to a preliminary investigation, just seconds after take-off, both the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s fuel-control switches abruptly moved to the “cut-off” position, starving the engines of fuel and triggering total power loss. Switching to “cut-off” is typically done only after landing.
According to BBC News, the cockpit voice recording captures one pilot asking the other why he “did the cut-off,” to which the person replies that he didn’t. The recording doesn’t clarify who said what. At the time of take-off, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft while the captain was monitoring.
A myriad of systems requires pre-flight checks from aircraft engineers—most especially the flight deck. They also inspect oil servicing records, calculate the plane’s engine oil consumption, do a walk-around after an airplane arrives, check for the tires and body damages, among many other things.
Banner image taken from boeing.com