Boeing 787 RAT Deployment Crisis Uncommanded Emergency Power Failures Spark Global Safety Probe
New Delhi, October 24 - In a revelation that has aviation experts on high alert, an ongoing inquiry into the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's ram air turbine (RAT) system has uncovered a disturbing pattern of uncommanded emergency power deployments across the global fleet. The ram air turbine, a vital backup mechanism designed to generate hydraulic and electrical power during catastrophic failures like dual-engine shutdowns, has activated without provocation on at least 31 Boeing 787 aircraft worldwide. This finding, detailed in reports from India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), points to potential flaws in the aircraft's electrical and maintenance protocols, raising urgent questions about the safety of one of Boeing's flagship models. The incidents, including a high-profile case involving Air India Flight AI-117, underscore the fragility of the 787's advanced power systems and the need for immediate regulatory intervention to prevent mid-flight emergencies.
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The trigger for the intensified scrutiny was the October 4, 2025, incident over Birmingham Airport, where Air India's Boeing 787-8 descended to 1,600 feet on final approach, only for its RAT to unexpectedly unfold from the fuselage underside, despite no loss of primary power or hydraulic pressure. Pilots reported no anomalies, and the plane landed safely, but the unbidden deployment at such a critical phase horrified observers. Boeing's internal data, shared with the DGCA, revealed this was far from isolated: 31 similar uncommanded RAT activations have plagued the 787 fleet, often linked to faulty shuttle valves or improper stowage after maintenance. In India alone, with 32 Dreamliners in service, 19 aircraft lack an upgraded locking mechanism to mitigate these risks, amplifying concerns amid recent technical glitches like autopilot failures on other Air India jets.
Compounding the alarm is the shadow of the June 12, 2025, Air India Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 260 lives in the deadliest aviation disaster of the decade. Preliminary probes indicated the RAT had activated seconds after takeoff, suggesting a total electrical or hydraulic collapse, possibly tied to fuel engine switches flipping to cutoff. Though no direct link to the Birmingham event has been confirmed, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has demanded a full electrical system overhaul on all Indian 787s, citing the RAT as a "red flag" for systemic vulnerabilities. Boeing, under fire, has pledged comprehensive data on global service difficulty reports, particularly those following Power Conditioning Module (PCM) replacements, while the DGCA mandates reinspections of recently serviced RATs to ensure stowage integrity.
As airlines worldwide ground select 787s for checks, this RAT deployment saga exposes cracks in the Dreamliner's vaunted reliability, fueling calls for Boeing to accelerate fixes and regulators to enforce fleet-wide audits. With passenger trust hanging by a thread, the inquiry's outcomes could redefine emergency power protocols for next-generation jets, ensuring that what should be a last-resort savior doesn't become an unwitting harbinger of peril.
Posted on October 24, 2025