Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Circles Over Pacific, Makes Emergency Landing in LA With RAT Deployed
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner makes emergency landing in LA after circling Pacific; RAT deployed mid-air as precaution during suspected power loss.
LATAM Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lands in Los Angeles with emergency Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployed after circling over Pacific.
A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operated by LATAM Airlines that was headed for Santiago had to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles after over an hour of circling over the Pacific Ocean. On August 1, 2025, the incident happened, and it gained notice online when a video appeared that showed the aircraft landing on runway 25L with its Ram Air Turbine (RAT) clearly deployed—a unusual sight on commercial flights.
Flightradar24's flight tracking data indicates that the plane took off at 23:21 UTC (4:51 AM IST) and returned to LA at approximately 1:00 UTC (6:30 AM IST). The aircraft apparently flew in a holding pattern over the Pacific before making a safe return. In the video, the RAT—which is designed to provide emergency hydraulic and electrical power in the event that an aircraft's primary systems malfunction—was seen deployed to the left of the landing gear. Luckily, after landing, the plane managed to taxi to the gate on its own.
The RAT may have been deployed as a result of an engine malfunction, electrical failure, or fuel supply disruption, though the precise cause of the incident is yet unknown, according to experts. Usually, when the aircraft loses vital power systems, the pilot can manually turn on the turbine or it can be turned on automatically in the event of a twin engine failure. It ensures safe operation during an emergency landing by harnessing the aircraft's airflow to power vital systems including navigation, communication, and flight controls.
This is not the first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner fear in recent memory. When the left engine of a United Airlines flight headed to Germany failed on July 25, pilots had to declare a Mayday and the aircraft had to return to Washington Dulles Airport. Additionally, that flight was in a holding pattern for a while before making a safe landing.
Aviation authorities are closely checking both events as investigations go to make sure safety procedures were followed and to see if there are any systematic problems that need to be fixed.
