The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that on October 4, Air India flight - a Boeing 787 - saw an unexpected deployment of its Ram Air Turbine (RAT) during landing. The Amritsar to Birmingham flight encountered a serious mid-air scare. When the flight was landing at the airport in Birmingham, at 400 ft, the RAT unlock message was displayed, and the RAT got deployed. The Pilot of the flight did not report any abnormality relating to this issue, and the plane landed safely. The Boeing was recommended for maintenance due to uncommanded RAT deployment. During the maintenance checks, no discrepancy was observed. The aircraft is being released for service. The DGCA stated that this matter requires a detailed investigation, and therefore, an officer from DAS(NR) will be investigating the case.
This incident has revived haunting memories of the June 12 Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. This incident has also prompted the pilots’ union to emphasize the need for thorough checks of the aircraft’s electrical system.
The DGCA is investigating this incident that involved aircraft VT-ANO operating this flight.
Air India, in its official statement over the incident, said, “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 further stated that the aircraft was grounded for inspection purposes, and the flight from Birmingham to Delhi was cancelled. Alternative arrangements were made for passengers to reach Delhi.
The October 4 incident has raised questions about the reliability of the Boeing 787 fleet. This fleet had come under scrutiny after the June 12 Air India plane crash. US aircraft maker Boeing has not commented publicly on the earlier crash. The Ahmedabad plane crash was one of the worst in India in three decades.
After this incident, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) wrote a letter to the DGCA on October 5. They appealed to conduct detailed checks of the B787 aircraft’s electrical system in India. FIP wrote, “It is pertinent to note that the 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.” The union of 5,500 pilots said that after the Air India-171 crash, they have constantly insisted on detailed checks of the electrical system of B-787 aircraft in the country.