In a development that has sent shockwaves through India’s aviation industry, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has called for the immediate grounding of all Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in the country, following a harrowing mid-air incident involving Air India Flight AI117. The episode, which unfolded on October 4, 2025, during the flight’s final approach to Birmingham, UK, has reignited fierce debate over the safety of one of the world’s most advanced passenger jets and the adequacy of regulatory oversight in India’s rapidly expanding aviation sector.
The incident at the heart of the controversy began innocuously enough. Flight AI117, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was nearing Birmingham after departing Amritsar, Punjab. But as the aircraft descended to just 500 feet above the runway, a critical emergency device—the Ram Air Turbine (RAT)—unexpectedly deployed. The RAT is a compact, wind-driven generator designed to spring into action only during severe emergencies, such as a total engine or electrical failure. Its sudden appearance, despite all primary systems being fully operational, left the cockpit crew stunned and scrambling for answers. According to Air India, the crew “found all parameters to be normal,” and the plane landed safely on runway 33. Passengers remained blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding beneath their feet, but the implications would soon reverberate far beyond the tarmac in Birmingham.
Air India, which operates a fleet of 34 Dreamliners, moved quickly to ground the 12-year-old aircraft for a thorough inspection. The return flight to Delhi was canceled as a precaution, with services resuming only after the plane was cleared the following day. While no immediate discrepancies were found, the incident marked the second unexplained RAT deployment on a Boeing 787 in recent months, raising uncomfortable questions about the reliability of the Dreamliner’s sophisticated electrical and hydraulic systems.
The timing of the event could scarcely have been worse. Just months earlier, on June 12, 2025, Air India Flight 171—a Boeing 787-8—crashed after both engines mysteriously shut down mid-flight, killing 241 people onboard and 19 on the ground. Investigators attributed the tragedy to a cascade of electrical failures, with the aircraft’s black boxes revealing no evidence of pilot error but rather an eerie silence from the jet’s high-tech fly-by-wire controls. The parallels between the two incidents have not gone unnoticed by pilots, regulators, and the flying public.
Captain Charanvir Singh Randhawa, president of the FIP, captured the sense of disbelief within the aviation community: “I have never heard of the RAT being deployed automatically without any hydraulic loss, power loss, or failures.” The FIP, representing over 6,000 pilots, has since issued a forceful call for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ground all Boeing 787s in India and to undertake exhaustive electrical system inspections across the entire fleet. As reported by Mint, the union has been persistent in its demands since the June crash: “After the Air India Flight 171 crash, the FIP has been constantly insisting on a thorough check-up of the electrical system of B787 aircraft in the country. Subsequent to the crash, the DGCA checked only the fuel control switches of B787 in Air India (fleet).”
The DGCA, India’s civil aviation regulator, has so far resisted calls for a fleet-wide grounding. Instead, it has launched an investigation into the latest RAT deployment and mandated inspections of specific components, such as the fuel control switches. Critics argue that this response falls short of the comprehensive safety audit warranted by the recent string of incidents. Aviation experts and pilot unions have pointed to the regulator’s history of decisive action—such as the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max in 2019 and the Dreamliner itself in 2013 over battery issues—as evidence that more robust measures are both possible and necessary. As one commentator wrote in Mint, “The DGCA’s refusal to conduct a comprehensive review of the electrical systems across India’s entire Boeing 787 fleet following the Air India Flight 171 crash is baffling.”
The controversy over the DGCA’s response has spilled into India’s highest court. Two petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, calling for an independent, court-monitored inquiry into the June crash. The petitions allege conflicts of interest within the investigation panel—three DGCA members reportedly served on the Air Accident Investigation Bureau’s team—and accuse authorities of withholding critical technical data, including flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder transcripts. The lack of transparency has fueled suspicions that the probe may be biased or incomplete, further eroding public confidence in aviation safety regulation.
Meanwhile, technical issues continue to dog the Dreamliner fleet. On June 16, 2025, an Air India flight from Hong Kong to Delhi was forced to return to Hong Kong due to a technical problem, while a British Airways Dreamliner bound for Chennai turned back to London the same day. These incidents, coupled with the two unexplained RAT deployments and the catastrophic June crash, have prompted a growing chorus of voices demanding systemic reform.
Boeing, the American aerospace giant behind the Dreamliner, has responded by dispatching engineering teams to assist Air India’s maintenance crews. The company maintains that the RAT is equipped with multiple safeguards to prevent false activations, but the recurrence of such events has cast a shadow over the Dreamliner’s reputation for reliability and innovation. The 787, with its composite fuselage and cutting-edge systems, was once hailed as the future of long-haul aviation. Now, its perceived vulnerabilities threaten to undermine public trust in one of India’s most important aviation assets.
For India, the stakes could hardly be higher. The country is home to one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, with passenger numbers projected to surge by 15% annually and over 1,500 daily flights crisscrossing its skies. Air India alone relies on the Dreamliner for a third of its international routes. Grounding the entire fleet would cause massive disruptions, stranding thousands of travelers and costing millions in lost revenue. Yet, for many pilots and safety advocates, these are prices worth paying to ensure that the lessons of the past are not forgotten.
Social media has amplified the sense of urgency, with hashtags like #GroundTheDreamliner and #Boeing787Safety trending among anxious travelers. Travel associations report a spike in inquiries from frequent flyers, while industry stakeholders brace for the possibility of further regulatory action. The DGCA’s preliminary investigation report is expected within weeks, and all eyes are on the regulator to see whether it will match its words with deeds.
As the investigation unfolds, the challenge for India’s aviation authorities, airlines, and manufacturers is clear: to bridge the gap between technological innovation and unyielding safety, and to restore confidence in the skies. For the pilots who navigate these razor-thin margins every day, the message is simple—every unexpected whir of a RAT mid-flight is a reminder that, in aviation, vigilance is not optional. Until comprehensive reforms are enacted, the specter of another crisis will continue to haunt India’s booming aviation horizon.