Fresh scare on Air India Boeing 787 as emergency system deploys during landing
Just months after the fatal Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad, another Air India flight reported a malfunction as its RAT system deployed mid-air
Months after the Boeing 787-8 air crash killed 260 people in Ahmedabad, a malfunction caused a scare on Air India's Amritsar-Birmingham flight on Saturday (October 4). However, the flight landed safely after the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployed during the final approach. RAT is automatically deployed when both engine fail or during total electronic or hydraulic failure. RAT uses wind speed to generate emergency power.
After the landing, Air India issued a statement saying the return flight from Birmingham was cancelled as the aircraft was grounded for inspection.
"The operating crew of flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on 4 October 2025 detected deployment of the 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," the Tata Group-owned Air India said in a statement. However, it did not reveal details such as the number of people on board.
Alternative arrangements were being made to accommodate the passengers, Air India said in the statement.
Also Read: Ahmedabad Boeing air crash: Top 10 deadly crashes in India in past
Ahmedabad crash
It is to be noted that both engine or hydraulic/electrical failure or software malfunction were also cited among the several probable causes of the Air India Boeing 787 plane crash in June.
On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171 en route to London's Gatwick International Airport crashed into a medical hostel complex soon after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, including 241 people on board. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is probing the crash.
The AAIB in its preliminary report submitted in July said the engine fuel control switches of the Boeing 787-8 plane were cut off seconds after lift-off, with one of the pilots asking the other why he had done so, to which the latter responded that he had not.
In its 15-page preliminary report on the crash, which happened within around 30 seconds of the plane lifting off, the AAIB said the fuel control switches were switched on later, but the deceleration in one of the engines could not be stopped.
US aircraft maker Boeing has remained silent on one of the deadliest air crashes in India in the past three decades.
(With agency inputs)