Pilots’ Body demands the ‘grounding of all Boeing 787 planes’ based on reports of malfunctioning

Air India responds to the demand made by the Federation of Indian Pilots.

The Federation of India Pilots, a body representing airline pilots, has demanded the ‘grounding of all Boeing 787 planes’ based on reports of malfunctioning electronics on two Air India flights. These flights are AI 154 and AI 117.

Pilots’ bodies demand grounding of all Boeing 787 planes.

The Federation of India Pilots has demanded the grounding of all Boeing 787 planes based on reports of malfunctioning electronics on two of Air India flights. AI 154 is a Vienna-Delhi service diverted to Dubai on October 9 after failures across multiple systems, including autopilot and flight control, and RAT deployment on AI 117 while landing in Birmingham on October 4. The pilots claimed that the incidents were ‘indicators of poor serviceability by Air India’ and seemed to blame the newly-hired engineers, replacing those from government-owned AIESEL.

Air India reacts to the matter.

A spokesperson from the airline said, “At Air India, the safety of passengers and crew remains top priority. On the AI 117 incident, the airline said the plane had landed safely despite the RAT deploying on final approach. The spokesperson said ‘all electrical and hydraulic parameters to be normal. The spokesperson added, “Based on our preliminary investigation, deployment of the RAT was ‘un-commanded’, consistent with similar occurrences with other airlines in the past and as reported by Boeing.” The airline even said that it had notified the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation and submitted a preliminary report in accordance with rules. The aircraft has since been cleared for service.

The pilots, in a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu, stated, “The safety of air travel is being compromised by not investigating the causes of failures on B-787s in the country.” The AI 171 was a London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad. It failed to generate thrust and nosedived into a nearby residential area.