DGCA asks Air India to reinspect RAT on planes with replaced PCM
image for illustrative purpose
Mumbai: Aviation safety regulator DGCA has directed Air India to reinspect the RAT (emergency power source) for stowage on all aircraft whose power conditioning module was replaced by the Tata Group-owned airline in recent times.
At the same time, the aviation safety regulator has sought a "comprehensive report" from the US aircraft maker Boeing on the preventive measures to be implemented with respect to the un-commanded Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployment incident.
The development comes in the wake of two back-to-back incidents involving Air India 787 aircraft recently, and the pilots' grouping Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), writing a letter to the Civil Aviation Minister, urging the government to ground Air India's entire B787 aircraft fleet, besides a special audit of the airline.
On October 4, RAT got deployed on Air India Boeing 787 aircraft, operating its Amritsar-Birmingham flight AI-117, just before the landing, while on October 9, AI-154 from Vienna to Delhi, operated by a Boeing 787 aircraft bearing registration VT-ANO, was diverted to Dubai, due to the "sudden failure of autopilot system, triggering a series of technical malfunctions".
RAT deploys automatically in the eventuality of a dual engine failure or total electric or hydraulic failure. It uses wind speed to generate emergency power. "Air India has been advised to reinspect the RAT for stowage for all the aircraft, whose PCM module was replaced in the recent past," a senior DGCA official has said, adding that further investigation is in progress.
PCM is a crucial electrical component that converts, regulates and distributes electric power from the aircraft's power generation system to various onboard systems and equipment.
It may be mentioned here that Air India had categorically denied "any assertion that there was an electrical failure" in the Boeing 787 aircraft that was diverted to Dubai on October 9.
DGCA has also advised Air India to "review the work package of 'D' Check for the actions required in view of the change of PCM module, for any discrepancy".
