DGCA Pulls Up Air India For Failure To File Preliminary Report On Amritsar-Birmingham Flight Near-Crash Incident

Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has pulled up Air India airlines for its failure to file a preliminary report on the near-crash incident involving an Amritsar-Birmingham flight.

The DGCA has been forced to kickstart action against the airlines and has demanded a detailed probe into the incident. DGCA has now asked Aviation Security Body DAS (NR) to investigate the matter.

The DGCA's action comes after the pilots body approached it regarding the incident.

An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, flying from Amritsar to Birmingham, experienced a mid-air scare when its Ram Air Turbine (RAT) unexpectedly deployed as the plane was landing on a Saturday.

The aircraft landed safely, according to the airline.

Following the incident, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) urged the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to conduct a detailed check of the electrical system on all B787 aircraft in India. The union highlighted a potential need to investigate the aircraft's electrical components due to the uncommanded RAT deployment.

“The operating crew of flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on 4 October 2025 detected deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) of the aircraft during its final approach. All electrical and hydraulic parameters were found normal, and the aircraft performed a safe landing at Birmingham,” Air India said in a statement.

The Birmingham-Delhi return flight was cancelled after the entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet was grounded for inspection. “Alternative arrangements are being made to accommodate the passengers,” the airline said.

This marks the second such incident for the Boeing 787 model since the catastrophic June 12 crash of Air India Flight AI 171, which killed 260 people shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad.

The recurrence of incidents has once again cast doubt on the overall reliability of the Boeing 787 fleet.