DGCA to Study Air India RAT Deployment: Naidu

New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday said regulator DGCA will conduct a thorough study to find the root cause that led to the uncommanded Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployment in an Air India Boeing Dreamliner plane last week.

The incident involved the aircraft VT-ANO operating the flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on October 4. The RAT was deployed seconds before the landing at Birmingham, and the aircraft landed safely.

To a question about the incident, Naidu said that whenever such incidents happen, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) tries to find out the root cause of the problem.

"And once we get to understand the root cause, then we are going to reach out to the stakeholders, the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) also... whoever is concerned. We are going to do a thorough study on this," the minister said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a function after launching the book 'Above And Beyond – Exploring the Amazing World of Aviation' in the national capital. The book is authored by Shiv Kumar Mohanka, DIG, CISF, and Chief Airport Security Officer, ASG (Aviation Security Group) Hyderabad.

Generally, RAT gets deployed automatically in the eventuality of a dual engine failure or electrical/electronic or hydraulic failure, among others.

The incident has also raised safety concerns, with the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) urging DGCA to carry out thorough checks and investigate the electrical system of all Boeing 787 aircraft in the country.

The deployment of RAT also assumes significance against the backdrop of the crash of an Air India Dreamliner that killed 260 people on June 12.

After the fatal accident also, concerns were raised in some quarters about the safety of Dreamliners, and some reports had suggested that RAT was deployed prior to the crash, which happened soon after take-off.

On October 5, an Air India spokesperson said the operating crew of flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on October 4 detected the deployment of the 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," the airline had said.