New Delhi, Oct 5 — A mid-air technical glitch on an Air India Dreamliner operating from Amritsar to Birmingham on Saturday has prompted a fresh safety probe by India’s aviation regulator, reigniting concerns over the Boeing 787 fleet just months after a deadly crash involving the same aircraft model.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun investigating the in-flight incident in which the plane’s ram air turbine (RAT) — an emergency device designed to deploy only during total engine or electrical failure — unexpectedly activated during final approach to Birmingham airport.
According to officials, flight AI117 was nearing its destination when the cockpit crew noticed the RAT had deployed automatically at around 500 feet. Despite the anomaly, “all electrical and hydraulic parameters were found normal, and the aircraft performed a safe landing,” an Air India spokesperson said. “At Air India, the safety of our passengers and crew remains our top priority,” the spokesperson added.
The Dreamliner, registered as VT-ANO, was grounded upon landing for detailed inspection. As a result, the return flight AI114 from Birmingham to Delhi was cancelled, with alternate travel arrangements being made for affected passengers.
The incident has drawn sharp attention from the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), which represents over 5,500 pilots across Indian airlines. In a letter to the DGCA, the pilots’ body described the event as “deeply alarming” and urged the regulator to conduct a “comprehensive and nationwide inspection” of all Boeing 787 aircraft in operation.
“The malfunction could be another pointer to deeper systemic faults that may have contributed to the tragic Air India crash in June,” the FIP wrote. The letter added that the aircraft’s Health Monitoring System detected a fault in the Bus Power Control Unit, which might have triggered the RAT’s automatic deployment.
FIP also alleged that the DGCA’s earlier post-crash inspections were “superficial” and failed to address underlying electrical and power distribution issues within the Dreamliner fleet. “This incident must serve as a wake-up call for the regulator,” the pilots’ association stated.
The latest episode comes barely four months after an Air India Boeing 787 (AI171) operating from Ahmedabad crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12, killing all 260 people on board. Preliminary findings from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) indicated that both engines had shut down seconds after liftoff.
Aviation experts said that while Saturday’s incident did not compromise passenger safety, the timing of the RAT’s activation raises red flags about the reliability of onboard electrical systems. “The RAT deployment in flight without cause is extremely rare and must be treated seriously,” a senior pilot familiar with the Dreamliner’s systems noted.
As the DGCA begins its technical review, the latest malfunction has once again put Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner under scrutiny — and raised difficult questions about whether enough has been done to ensure the aircraft’s safety following the catastrophic June crash.
