Indian pilots demand answers after Boeing 787 mid-air power scare

India’s leading body of pilots has asked the civil aviation regulator to inspect all Boeing 787 Dreamliners operating in the country for electrical issues after one of the planes abruptly deployed an emergency power system mid-air over the weekend.

The device, a small propeller that acts as a backup generator and is known as the ram air turbine, or RAT, normally would be activated when an aircraft’s engines lose power, its hydraulic systems register critically low pressure or its electrical systems fail.

However, the RAT engaged unexpectedly on Saturday aboard Air India flight 117 from the northern Indian city of Amritsar moments before it landed safely in Birmingham, England.

The Federation of Indian Pilots, which represents about 6,000 pilots, asked for the investigation on Sunday evening.

Air India, owned by business conglomerate Tata Group, said in a statement that an initial inspection following the weekend incident found that “all electrical and hydraulic parameters were normal”, and that the aircraft landed safely.

The mid-air deployment of the emergency device has reignited concerns in India over the safety of the Dreamliner. In June, an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London crashed in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in one of India’s worst aviation disasters.