Pilots' body seeks thorough check of electrical system of all Boeing 787 planes

Mumbai: The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) on Sunday urged aviation safety regulator DGCA to thoroughly check and investigate the electrical system of all Boeing 787 aircraft in the country.

The pilots’ body wrote a letter to DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) a day after a Boeing 787 plane operated by Air India from Amritsar to Birmingham saw deployment of emergency turbine power when it was about to land in the UK city.

According to Air India, the operating crew of its Amritsar-Birmingham flight reported that the Boeing 787’s Ram Air Turbine (RAT) unexpectedly deployed during the final approach on October 4, but the aircraft landed safely.

In the Air India aircraft incident, the Aircraft Health Monitoring (AHM) picked up a fault of Bus Power Control Unit (BPCU), which may have caused the auto deployment of RAT, FIP President G S Randhawa said in the letter to DGCA.

“The (Birmingham flight) incident occurred when the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployed automatically at 500 ft on approach into Birmingham… the Aircraft Health Monitoring (AHM) has picked up a fault of the Bus Power Control Unit (BPCU) which may have caused the auto deployment of RAT,” the pilots’ body, which claims to represent over 5000 cockpit crew members, said in the letter.

BPCU manages an aircraft’s electrical power system.

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RAT deploys automatically in the eventuality of a dual engine failure or total electronic or hydraulic failure. It uses wind speed to generate emergency power.

Engine or hydraulic/electrical failure or software malfunction are being cited as among the several probable causes of the Air India Boeing 787 plane crash in June this year.

“There have been numerous incidents on B-787 aircraft. We have strongly taken up with the Civil Aviation Ministry and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to thoroughly check the electrical system of all B-787 aircraft in the country.

“After the Air India-171 crash, the FIP has been constantly insisting on a thorough check-up of the electrical system of B-787 aircraft in the country. Subsequent to the crash, DGCA checked only the fuel control switches of B-787 in Air India (fleet),” FIP said in the letter.

On June 12, Air India’s Boeing 787 aircraft operating flight AI 171 en route to London Gatwick crashed into a medical hostel complex soon after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, including 241 persons who were onboard the plane.

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AAIB, which is probing the crash, had said in its preliminary report in July this year that the engine fuel control switches of the ill-fated Boeing 787-8 plane were cut off seconds after lift-off, with one of the pilots asking the other why he had cut off, and the latter responding saying he did not do so.

“It is pertinent to note that the incident is another pointer towards the Air India crash of the B-787 aircraft. Thus, in the interest of air safety, FIP insists that DGCA must thoroughly check and investigate the electrical system of B-787 aircraft in the country,” the Federation said in the letter.

US aircraft maker Boeing has been maintaining silence on one of the deadliest air crashes in India in the last three decades.

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