Check every Boeing 787 aircraft: FIP
Pilots’ body urges DGCA to investigate electrical system of all Boeing 787 aircraft in India after Ram Air Turbine (RAT) scare
image for illustrative purpose
Mumbai: The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) on Sunday urged aviation safety regulator DGCA to thoroughly check and investigate the electrical system of all Boeing 787 aircraft in the country. The pilots’ body wrote a letter to DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) a day after a Boeing 787 plane operated by Air India from Amritsar to Birmingham saw deployment of emergency turbine power when it was about to land in the UK city.
According to Air India, 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 October 4, but the aircraft landed safely. In the Air India aircraft incident, the Aircraft Health Monitoring (AHM) picked up a fault of Bus Power Control Unit (BPCU), which may have caused the auto deployment of RAT, FIP President G S Randhawa said in the letter to DGCA.
“The (Birmingham flight) incident occurred when the Ram Air Turbine (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 pilots’ body, which claims to represent over 5000 cockpit crew members, said in the letter.
