New Delhi [India], February 3 (ANI): President of the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), Captain CS Randhawa, on Monday known as for pressing inspections of all Boeing 787 plane for electrical system defects, citing recurring incidents that he mentioned compromise flight security.
His remarks observe the grounding of an Air India Boeing 787-8, earlier within the day, after a pilot reported a potential defect within the gasoline management swap.
‘From day one after the AI-171 crash, now we have been insisting that every one B-787s be checked for electrical programs. We have gone on file within the media and written letters to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the DGCA that gasoline management switches might have moved mechanically attributable to electrical malfunctions of TCMA within the AI-161 crash,’ Randhawa mentioned to ANI.
He highlighted the chance of water seepage into the principle digital bay of the plane, which may set off electrical failures.
‘The B-787-800 can be susceptible to water seepage/leakage into the principle digital bay of the plane, which may trigger electrical malfunctions. On June 12, 2025, an Air India flight from Vienna to Delhi was declared AOG on the bottom at Vienna attributable to flooding of {the electrical} bay. Passengers had been deplaned instantly to keep away from any accident,’ he mentioned.
Randhawa additionally cited a 2019 incident involving All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing flight NH-985 in Osaka, the place each engines rolled again attributable to an analogous fault, although the plane landed safely.
‘An ANA All Nippon Airways Boeing 787-8, registration JA825A, performing flight NH-985 from Tokyo Haneda to Osaka Itami (Japan) with 109 passengers and 9 crew, landed on Itami’s runway 32L, touched down, and the crew deployed the thrust reversers when each engines (Trent 1000) rolled again and shut down. The plane rolled out with out additional incident, got here to a cease about 2450 meters/8030 toes down the runway and was disabled. The plane was towed off the runway about 40 minutes after touchdown,’ he mentioned.
Speaking on the incident, he mentioned, ‘Today once more historical past has repeated at Heathrow, the place the left gasoline management swap was chopping off after transferring the swap to run throughout begin. Also, now we have been insisting that every one B-787s be grounded and checked for {the electrical} programs.’
Earlier within the day, an Air India Boeing 787-8 plane was grounded after a pilot reported a potential defect within the gasoline management swap. An Air India spokesperson mentioned that considered one of its pilots has reported a potential defect on the gasoline management swap of a Boeing 787-8 plane, and the matter has been communicated to DGCA, the nation’s aviation regulator.
The spokesperson mentioned the airline is partaking the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to get the pilot’s considerations checked on precedence.
‘We are conscious that considered one of our pilots has reported a potential defect on the gasoline management swap of a Boeing 787-8 plane. After receiving this preliminary info, now we have grounded the mentioned plane and are involving the OEM to get the pilot’s considerations checked on a precedence foundation. The matter has been communicated to the aviation regulator, DGCA. Air India had checked the gasoline management switches on all Boeing 787 plane in its fleet after a directive from the DGCA, and had discovered no points. At Air India, the protection of our passengers and crew stays high precedence,’ the spokesperson mentioned.
Meanwhile, an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed on June 12, quickly after takeoff from Ahmedabad. The accident killed 260 folks, together with 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 folks on the bottom.
A preliminary investigation into the crash revealed that simply seconds earlier than the plane misplaced energy and went down close to Ahmedabad airport, one pilot requested the opposite why he had lower off gasoline to the engines. The second pilot reportedly mentioned he ‘didn’t accomplish that.’
The report talked about that each engines of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner shut down one second aside shortly after takeoff. This brought on the plane to lose altitude quickly and crash close to the boundary of the airport. (ANI)