Pilots' body asks DGCA to thoroughly check electrical system of all Boeing 787 planes

Mumbai: Hours after a fresh mid-air scare involving an Air India Boeing 787 operating from Amritsar to Birmingham, the Federation of Indian Pilots wrote a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to thoroughly check and investigate the electrical system of all aircraft of class in the country.

In fact, according to reports, the operating crew of its Amritsar-Birmingham flight reported that the Boeing 787's Ram Air Turbine (RAT) unexpectedly deployed during the final approach on Saturday, however, the aircraft landed safely.

FIP President G S Randhawa, in the letter to DGCA, said: “The incident occurred when the RAT deployed automatically at 500 ft on approach into Birmingham. 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”.

The BPCU manages an aircraft’s electrical power system.

The RAT deploys automatically in the eventuality of a dual engine failure or total electronic or hydraulic failure - by using the wing speed to generate emergency power.

The incident comes as a matter of concern after the 12 June, 2025 Air India Flight AI171 crash involving the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner has led to the death of 260 people including 241 on board. There was only one survivor among the passengers.

The aircraft bearing registration VT-ANB at Ahmedabad, shortly after it took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport for London Gatwick.

The 15-page preliminary findings of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), had said: “The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUT OFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec…In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he CUT OFF. The other pilot responded that he did not do so.”

In the cockpit were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, the pilot and co-pilot respectively.

The letter further states: “Since the time Boeing-787 has been flying there have been numerous incidents on 787 aircraft. We have strongly taken up with the Civil Aviation Ministry and AAIB to thoroughly check the electrical system of all B-787s in the country,” the letter said.