Air India inspected emergency power use on UK-bound flight
Air India grounded a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for checks, after an emergency power system got activated midair in an UK-bound flight over the weekend, the airline said in a statement Sunday.
“The operating crew of flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on 04 October 2025 detected deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) of the aircraft during its final approach,” Air India said in the statement. “All electrical and hydraulic parameters were found normal, and the aircraft performed a safe landing” at its destination, it added.
The aircraft was grounded temporarily for safety inspection and is now back in the fleet, an Air India spokesperson said.
The incident comes months after a similarly unexplained RAT deployment was seen in an Air India flight that crashed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad in June 30 seconds after take-off, killing all but one of 242 on board. While the final crash report on one of the worst aviation tragedies is still awaited, the emergency-power turbine kicking in the UK-bound flight has stoked demands for a more thorough investigation.
RAT is deployed only in case of emergencies like loss of power and helps power critical systems like flight controls and navigation instruments. In the latest case, it deployed despite the systems running normal.
“The deployment of RAT on B-787 aircraft VT-ANO on approach at 500 feet while landing into Birmingham is a serious concern despite the fact there was no problem with the aircraft,” said Charanvir Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots, which represents more than 6,000 pilots.
The pilot body has petitioned India’s aviation regulator, crash probe agency as well as the aviation ministry to check the electrical systems on all the Boeing 787 aircraft in the country, Randhawa added.
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Published on October 6, 2025
