Aviation Authority Investigates Mysterious Ram Air Turbine Deployment on Air India Flight

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced a comprehensive investigation into the unexpected deployment of a Ram Air Turbine (RAT) on an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The incident occurred a few minutes before the aircraft, operating as flight AI117 from Amritsar, landed safely at Birmingham Airport.

In airplanes, the RAT is designed to deploy automatically during critical failures, such as a dual engine failure or total loss of electronic or hydraulic systems, to generate emergency power using wind speed. However, pilots of the flight, which approached at 400 feet, reported no abnormalities, and all parameters remained normal.

An official from DGCA stated that Boeing's maintenance recommendations for unexpected RAT deployment were executed without finding any discrepancies. Consequently, the aircraft has been cleared for future operations. Air India refrained from disclosing specific details like the passenger count on the affected flight.

(With inputs from agencies.)