Boeing 787s Should Be Grounded?

The Boeing 787 fleet in India is facing additional pressure, with a pilot association now urging the immediate grounding of the series.

India’s association of pilots, which has been advocating for safer aircraft in the country and standards since a fatal accident involving an Air India 787, has pushed for the grounding to take place over recent days.

The pilots’ association states that it wants all Boeing 787s located in India to undergo critical inspections of their electrical components, to determine the cause of the issue found on one of the 787-8s and to prevent it from happening again.

Air India is the primary operator of the Boeing widebody jet, with data showing that there are 32 units currently in the airline’s name, comprising 26 -8 models and six -9 models.

The Air India 787 Incident

The push also now has greater merit, according to them, following the use of RAT on an Air India Boeing 787 during a routine landing in Birmingham over the most recent weekend.

This RAT system is not intended for deployment during routine flights that pose no fundamental safety concerns; the ram air turbine, as it’s known, should only be activated when an aircraft loses power and/or hydraulic pressure.

RAT therefore comes into its own to help power the aircraft with critical systems that are required for pilots to get the additional power neccesary to make a safe landing where possible.

Following an inspection of the unit, which had been temporarily grounded in Birmingham, it was revealed that there were no discrepancies with the aircraft, and it was cleared to return to service.

Even with the clearance provided, the flight will still undergo necessary investigations to determine the cause of the RAT deployment while the Dreamliner was attempting to land in Birmingham on October 4, 2025.

These pilot associations are already quite wary following the major accident involving an Air India 787 in June, which marked one of the most fatal accidents in recent times and the first one for the widebody program since its launch.

The argument remains that not enough checks were conducted on the 787 fleet at the time of the accident. With the focus on pilots, their crew, and passengers, the association believes that greater steps must be taken to ensure the safety of the jets.