DGCA urged to review all 787 planes after emergency deployment

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has urged aviation regulator DGCA to conduct a thorough inspection of the electrical systems of all Boeing 787 aircraft in India, following a recent safety incident.

The appeal comes a day after an Air India Boeing 787 flight from Amritsar to Birmingham experienced an unexpected deployment of its Ram Air Turbine (RAT) while on final approach on October 4. The RAT, which generates emergency power using wind speed during engine or electrical failure, activated automatically, though the aircraft landed safely. The Aircraft Health Monitoring system flagged a potential fault in the plane’s Bus Power Control Unit (BPCU), which manages the aircraft’s electrical power.

FIP President G S Randhawa highlighted that this incident points to broader safety concerns, especially in the context of the June 12 Air India Flight AI 171 crash near Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people. Investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) had found that engine fuel control switches had been cut off seconds after take-off, raising questions about electrical or software failures.

“After the AI-171 crash, DGCA only checked the fuel control switches of Air India’s 787 fleet. The recent RAT deployment shows a thorough inspection of the entire electrical system is necessary,” the pilots’ body said. Representing over 5,000 cockpit crew members, FIP stressed that such checks are vital to ensure air safety.