After two Air India Boeing 787-8 planes encountered technical issues in under a week, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) called on the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to ground all Air India Boeing 787 aircraft for comprehensive electrical system inspections and to initiate a special audit of Air India aircraft maintenance. In a letter to K Ram Mohan Naidu, the Minister of Civil Aviation, the grouping made these demands. Since the crash of a Boeing 787-8 in Ahmedabad on June 12 that resulted in 260 fatalities, the FIP has been insisting on thorough inspections of the electrical systems of all such aircraft.
The letter sent on Friday by the association, which comprises roughly 5,500 pilots, comes in the wake of an incident on Thursday involving an Air India Boeing 787-8—registered as VT-ANC—that was operating flight AI154 from Vienna to Delhi and had to be diverted to Dubai because of a technical issue. On Saturday, October 4, another Air India Boeing 787-8 (VT-ANO) operating flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham experienced an unexpected and uncommanded deployment of the ram air turbine (RAT), which is a last-resort emergency power system that activates during severe emergencies such as complete electrical failure or serious hydraulic failure. An inadvertent automatic RAT deployment is a highly uncommon event. The aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating that incident.
The aircraft encountered failures in essential systems, including Autopilots, ILS (Instrument Landing System), Flight Directors (FDs), and degradation of the Flight Control System, which lacked Autoland functionality. Due to electrical malfunctions, the pilots were unable to activate the autopilots, forcing them to fly manually at night and divert to Dubai. In addition, the FD’s could not be obtained with degraded flight control systems,” the FIP mentioned in its letter to Naidu.
“AI154, which was flying from Vienna to Delhi on 09 October, was redirected to Dubai because of a technical problem. The aircraft touched down safely at Dubai and had essential inspections performed. All passengers were kept updated about the delay, given refreshments, and the flight, using the same aircraft, departed from Dubai at 08:45 hrs IST and arrived in Delhi at 12:19 hrs IST. Passenger and crew safety is the top priority at Air India. “Air India categorically denies any assertion that there was an electrical failure in the said aircraft,” stated a spokesperson for Air India.
A senior official from the DGCA stated that data from the aircraft’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder will be downloaded in Delhi for examination. The aircraft was flying at 39,000 feet when the autopilot was disengaged and several other systems failed, it has been reported.
“We reiterate our appeal to the Hon’ble Minister to ground all B-787s (Boeing 787 aircraft) of Air India and ensure these aircraft are thoroughly inspected, particularly their electrical systems. Due to the increasing number of failures that are having a serious impact on air safety, the DGCA will conduct a special audit of all B-787s, and these aircraft will be thoroughly examined. “The occurrence of two incidents involving electrical malfunctions within a brief period suggests that Air India is not serviceable,” stated the FIP.
„We once more humbly ask the Hon’ble Minister to take the following actions for the sake of air safety: a) To conduct a thorough investigation into both recent incidents involving AI-117 and AI-154. b) All Air India B-787 aircraft should be grounded and thoroughly inspected for their electrical systems and other recurring issues. c) An order for a Special Audit of Air India is to be issued, with the Senior Staff of FSD (Flight Standards Directorate), Air Safety and Airworthiness of DGCA responsible for carrying it out. “It is necessary to verify the MEL (minimum equipment list) releases and recurring snags on the aircraft, particularly B-787s,” the FIP wrote.
