A few minutes before landing at Birmingham Airport, ‘RAM Air Turbine (RAT) became active in the Boeing 787 aircraft of Air India on Saturday. The officers provided this information. In general, RAT is automatically activated in a position of both engines stop working or in a state of complete electronic or hydraulic failure.
It uses air speed to generate emergency energy. Aviation regulator DGCA is investigating the incident related to VT-ANO, which operates flight number AI 117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on October 4.
Officials said on Sunday that the aircraft landed safely. The incident has also led to security concerns and the ‘Federation of Indian Pilots’ (FIP) has urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to intensively check the power system of 787 aircraft across the country.
The Air India spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday that the operator of flight number AI 117 going from Amritsar to Birmingham on October 4 came to know about the RAT being active.
The airline said, “All electrical and hydraulic parameters were found to be normal and the aircraft was safely launched in Birmingham.” However, the airline did not share specific details including the number of people on the aircraft.
A senior DGCA official told the ‘PTI-language’ that the RAT was active during the landing of the aircraft but the pilot did not see any other abnormalities.
The officer also said that DGCA would conduct a detailed investigation into the incident. In June this year, the AI’s aircraft 787 is also considered to be engine or hydraulic/electrical failure or software malfunction in several possible causes of 787 accidents.
Soon after flying from Ahmedabad, the aircraft crashed in a medical college campus, killing 260 people, including 241 people on the aircraft. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating the accident.
The AAIB said in its preliminary report in July this year that the engine fuel control switches of Boeing 787–8 aircraft had stopped only a few seconds after flying. According to AAIB, one pilot asked the other why he did so and the other replied that he did not do so.