The airlines said that all the passengers and the crew are safe and the plane has been grounded for inspection.
An Air India flight from Amritsar to Birmingham made a safe landing after the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), the backup power device, was activated during its final approach on Saturday.
The airline confirmed that all electrical and hydraulic systems of flight AI117, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, were functioning normally.
The flight made a safe landing and no passengers or the crew were injured, news agency ANI quoted an Air India spokesperson as saying. The plane has been grounded for further inspections and its return from Birmingham to Delhi has been cancelled. The carrier said alternate arrangements were being made to accommodate the affected passengers.
"The operating crew of flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on 04 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. The aircraft has been grounded for further checks, and consequently, AI114 from Birmingham to Delhi has been cancelled, and alternative arrangements are being made to accommodate the guests," an Air India spokesperson told ANI.
The Ram Air Turbine is a small, fold-out windmill-like device that deploys in emergencies when the plane loses main electrical or hydraulic power. It generates emergency power to maintain control of key flight systems, including basic flight instruments and hydraulic pressure for control surfaces.
The safety and quality of Boeing planes has often been under scanner as many crashes in the recent past involved the planes manufactured by the American company. The plane that crashed in Ahmedabad in June this year, killing 241 passengers and 19 crew members, was also Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The safety of the Boeing planes has been challenged several times. In 2018, a Lion Air plane crashed 13 minutes after take-off, killing all 189 on-board. In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed and all 157 people on the plane died.
