Tech snag diverts AI's Thiruvananthapuram -Delhi flight to Chennai
MP KC Venugopal and a few other MPs, on an Air India Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi flight experienced a terrifying 3.5-hour journey on Sunday after a technical fault forced pilots to divert the aircraft to Chennai.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Flight AI 2455 circled over the Bay of Bengal for nearly two hours, began its descent for a landing, then ascended again before safely landing on its second attempt.
In a detailed statement, the DGCA said AI 2455 'encountered moderate turbulent conditions during flight. Crew observed that weather information depicted on the weather radar was not accurate. Suspecting weather radar malfunction, they diverted to Chennai.'
'After (hovering to burn fuel) the aircraft was cleared (to land) at Chennai. (Crew) was instructed to carry out a missed approach by ATC as a departing Gulf Air flight, GFA 53 (Chennai-Bahrain), reported debris on the left side of the runway,' it said.
A runway check found nothing. The AI aircraft landed safely at 10.39 pm.
'During engineering inspection no deficiency was observed. However, as a precautionary measure, the weather radar transceiver was replaced with a serviceable one,' the DGCA said.
A combination of multiple factors, including a slightly delayed departure from Thiruvananthapuram, bad weather, announcement of the flight diverting due to a snag, hovering over Chennai, and then a go-around added to passengers' anxiety.
Minutes after landing, K C Venugopal, a former junior civil aviation minister, posted on X about the "frighteningly close to tragedy' experience.
'Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
About an hour later, the captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai. For nearly two hours, we circled around the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during the first attempt — another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway. In a split second, the captain's quick decision to pull up saved every life on board.
The flight landed safely on the second attempt,' he said, urging the civil aviation ministry and DGCA to 'investigate the incident and fix accountability.'
Air India denied that AI 2455 was asked to go around because there was another aircraft on the runway. An AI spokesperson said: 'The flight crew of AI2455 … made a precautionary diversion to Chennai due to a suspected technical issue and given the weather conditions en route. The flight landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft will undergo the necessary checks. We regret the inconvenience caused to affected passengers….
At AI, safety of our passengers and crew remains top priority.'
In reply to another post on X, AI said: '…diversion to Chennai was precautionary, due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions. A go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing, not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway. Our pilots are well-trained to handle such situations, and in this case, they followed standard procedures throughout the flight…'
Air India arranged another Airbus A320neo to fly the passengers from Chennai to New Delhi as AI 2455.
The usual flying time of AI 2455 (TRV-Delhi) is 3.5 hours with a scheduled departure time of 7.15 pm. According to flight tracking sites, it took off on Sunday at 8 pm, after a slight delay, and landed in Chennai at 10.39 pm. The alternate aircraft took off from Chennai at 1.40 am and landed in New Delhi at about 4 am.
Captain Ranganathan, a former pilot and aviation safety expert, said it is normal for flights to go around while approaching the runway to land. "Even in cases where an aircraft occupies the runway for too long, the incoming flight, which was given clearance to approach the runway, would be asked to go around,' he said.
Seasoned aviators say while AI 2455 had a routine suspected snag, passenger anxiety levels have expectedly been higher after the June 12 AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad and subsequent incidents.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Tech snag diverts AI's Thiruvananthapuram -Delhi flight to Chennai
CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: At least 140 passengers, including MP KC Venugopal and a few other MPs, on an Air India Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi flight experienced a terrifying 3.5-hour journey on Sunday after a technical fault forced pilots to divert the aircraft to Chennai. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Flight AI 2455 circled over the Bay of Bengal for nearly two hours, began its descent for a landing, then ascended again before safely landing on its second attempt. In a detailed statement, the DGCA said AI 2455 'encountered moderate turbulent conditions during flight. Crew observed that weather information depicted on the weather radar was not accurate. Suspecting weather radar malfunction, they diverted to Chennai.' 'After (hovering to burn fuel) the aircraft was cleared (to land) at Chennai. (Crew) was instructed to carry out a missed approach by ATC as a departing Gulf Air flight, GFA 53 (Chennai-Bahrain), reported debris on the left side of the runway,' it said. A runway check found nothing. The AI aircraft landed safely at 10.39 pm. 'During engineering inspection no deficiency was observed. However, as a precautionary measure, the weather radar transceiver was replaced with a serviceable one,' the DGCA said. A combination of multiple factors, including a slightly delayed departure from Thiruvananthapuram, bad weather, announcement of the flight diverting due to a snag, hovering over Chennai, and then a go-around added to passengers' anxiety. Minutes after landing, K C Venugopal, a former junior civil aviation minister, posted on X about the "frighteningly close to tragedy' experience. 'Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now About an hour later, the captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai. For nearly two hours, we circled around the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during the first attempt — another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway. In a split second, the captain's quick decision to pull up saved every life on board. The flight landed safely on the second attempt,' he said, urging the civil aviation ministry and DGCA to 'investigate the incident and fix accountability.' Air India denied that AI 2455 was asked to go around because there was another aircraft on the runway. An AI spokesperson said: 'The flight crew of AI2455 … made a precautionary diversion to Chennai due to a suspected technical issue and given the weather conditions en route. The flight landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft will undergo the necessary checks. We regret the inconvenience caused to affected passengers…. At AI, safety of our passengers and crew remains top priority.' In reply to another post on X, AI said: '…diversion to Chennai was precautionary, due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions. A go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing, not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway. Our pilots are well-trained to handle such situations, and in this case, they followed standard procedures throughout the flight…' Air India arranged another Airbus A320neo to fly the passengers from Chennai to New Delhi as AI 2455. The usual flying time of AI 2455 (TRV-Delhi) is 3.5 hours with a scheduled departure time of 7.15 pm. According to flight tracking sites, it took off on Sunday at 8 pm, after a slight delay, and landed in Chennai at 10.39 pm. The alternate aircraft took off from Chennai at 1.40 am and landed in New Delhi at about 4 am. Captain Ranganathan, a former pilot and aviation safety expert, said it is normal for flights to go around while approaching the runway to land. "Even in cases where an aircraft occupies the runway for too long, the incoming flight, which was given clearance to approach the runway, would be asked to go around,' he said. Seasoned aviators say while AI 2455 had a routine suspected snag, passenger anxiety levels have expectedly been higher after the June 12 AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad and subsequent incidents.
New Indian Express
7 hours ago
- New Indian Express
ATC instructed Air India pilot instructed to abort first landing of Thiruvananthapuram flight due to debris: DGCA
NEW DELHI: Aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday said that the cockpit crew of the Delhi-bound Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram was directed by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Chennai to give a miss to the first landing it had planned on the runway. This followed a message relayed to them by the pilots of an earlier departing flight about debris being present near the runway. In a statement, the regulator also said the pilots of AI 2455 thought that the weather radar inside the cockpit had malfunctioned and was giving inaccurate information and this made them take the decision to divert the flight to Chennai. Later, a component in the nose cone of the aircraft, WX radar transceiver, which feeds inputs to the weather radar, was replaced as a precautionary measure before the flight finally took off from Chennai to Delhi. Flight AI2455 with 178 passengers, including five MPs from Kerala, plus seven crew members, had an emergency landing at Chennai airport on Sunday night due to turbulent weather and a suspected technical issue in the aircraft. AICC General Secretary and MP K C Venugopal, who was seated inside the flight, later billed the whole issue as a 'harrowing experience' in a long post on X. He alleged that the aircraft was frighteningly close to tragedy as it was 'a heart-stopping moment' during the first landing attempt. 'Another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway. In that split second, the Captain's quick decision to pull up saved every life. We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck.' Venugopal's remark was immediately countered by Air India on X which denied any danger posed by any other aircraft. 'The go-around was instructed by the Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing at the airport. It was not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway.' The DGCA's statement gave minute details about the incident. It said that the A320 aircraft took off from Thiruvananthapuram only at 8.04 pm instead of its scheduled time of 7.15 pm. The delay of 49 minutes was due to the delayed arrival of the aircraft arriving here from Delhi.
The Hindu
8 hours ago
- The Hindu
Civil aviation minister says 10 emergency landings of planes due to tech snags reported since January 2024
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Monday said 10 incidents of emergency landings of aircraft due to technical snags have been reported since January 2024. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol also said 171 regulatory audits have been conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) from 2020 till June 2025. Also Read: Parliament Monsoon Session Day 16 highlights | August 11, 2025 Replying to a question, Mr. Mohol said that two incidents of turbulence and 10 incidents of emergency landings due to technical snags have been reported since January 2024. 'In addition to the above, on 12.06.2025, Air India aircraft VT-ANB declared MAYDAY and eventually met with an accident,' he added. A total of 260 people died in the crash of Air India's plane, which was operating the flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12. In a separate written reply, the minister said that structural audits of Delhi Airport's Terminal 2 and 3, conducted by IIT Madras, found both structures to be safe. 'During heavy rain, forecourt canopy collapsed at Terminal 1D of Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, on 28.06.2024. On 25.05.2025, there was no incident of roof collapse at Delhi Airport,' he said. 'However, a small portion of the tensile fabric (a non-structural element) in the forecourt area tore off due to an unusually high-intensity thunderstorm, accompanied by strong winds and unprecedented rainfall over a short duration. The incident had no impact on airport operations,' Mr. Mohol said. According to him, a thorough inspection and investigation of the canopy structure of Terminal 1D of Delhi Airport was carried out by Cortex Construction Solutions Pvt. Ltd. 'The test results have been subsequently validated by IIT-Banaras Hindu University, and the structure has been found to be safe,' he added. Further, he said a detailed structural study was also undertaken by Larsen & Toubro's Engineering, Design & Research Centre (EDRC) prior to commencement of reconstruction works, with the prior approval of IIT Delhi. 'All the airport operators have been directed to carry out a thorough evaluation of all civil, electrical and technical aspects of the building, including the design, specifications and workmanship of the roof sheeting structure before the onset of monsoon every year,' Mr. Mohol said.
