E-Paper
Air India Amritsar-Birmingham flight faces mid-air scare during landing
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been grounded for inspection, leading to the cancellation of its Birmingham-Delhi return flight
New Delhi: In a serious mid-air scare, an Air India Boeing 787 operating from Amritsar to Birmingham reported unexpected deployment of its Ram Air Turbine (RAT) during landing on Saturday. The aircraft, however, landed safely, the airline said on Sunday.
The incident prompted the pilots’ union to flag the need for detailed check of the aircraft’s electrical system.
The RAT, a small propeller-like device, is designed to automatically deploy only in extreme emergencies such as a dual engine failure or total power loss. Its unexpected deployment is rare and usually signals a technical fault.
“The operating crew of flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on 4 October 2025 detected deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) of the aircraft during its final approach. All electrical and hydraulic parameters were found normal, and the aircraft performed a safe landing at Birmingham,” Air India said in a statement.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been grounded for inspection, leading to the cancellation of its Birmingham-Delhi return flight. “Alternative arrangements are being made to accommodate the passengers,” the airline added.
This is the second such incident involving the same aircraft model since the June 12 crash of Air India’s Dreamliner, AI 171, which killed 260 people after the plane crashed soon after take-off from Ahmedabad. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is probing that crash, with early findings pointing to sudden engine shutdowns seconds after take-off.
The latest incident has once again raised questions about the reliability of the Boeing 787 fleet. US aircraft maker Boeing has not commented publicly on the earlier crash, one of the worst in India in three decades.
After this incident, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has written to the country’s aviation regulator- the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct detailed checks of the electrical system of the B787 aircraft in India.
In the letter on Sunday, the union that consists of over 5,500 pilots across the country stated, “It is pertinent to note that incident in another pointer towards the AI crash of B-787 aircraft.... in the interest of Air Safety FIP insists that DGCA must thoroughly check and investigate the electrical system of B-787 a/c in the country.”
It said that, after the Air India -171 crash, the FIP has been constantly insisting on thorough check up of the electrical system of B-787 aircraft in the country.
“Subsequent to the crash, DGCA checked only the fuel control switches of B-787 in AI. Today an incident occurred on a B-787 aircraft, VT-ANO…In today’s incident the Aircraft Health Monitoring (AHM) has picked up a fault of the Bus Power Control Unit (BPCU) which may have caused the auto deployment of RAT. All electrical and hydraulic parameters were found normal, and the aircraft performed a safe landing at Birmingham.”
It further stated, “.... Since the time B-787 has been flying there have been numerous incidents on B-787 aircraft. We have strongly taken up with MOCA (ministry of civil aviation) and AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) to thoroughly check the electrical system of all B-787 aircraft in the country.”
“The incident involving Air India Flight AI117 today raises immediate and serious concerns about Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet, its maintenance, operation, and deployment. The RAT on the 787 deploys automatically through computer input only if the systems detect a major failure in engine power, hydraulics, or thrust assurance,” Mark D Martin of Martin Consulting, an aviation safety firm, said.
“At this stage, the 787 fleet should be grounded until the exact reason behind the RAT’s deployment in both the ill-fated AI171 Ahmedabad crash and today’s AI117 Birmingham incident is established. Today’s occurrence with AI117 raises a global concern over the safe operation of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet,” he concluded.
