'Close To Tragedy': KC Venugopal As Trivandrum-Delhi Air India Flight With MPs Lands In Chennai
An Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai after severe turbulence and a suspected technical issue. Congress MP KC Venugopal was on board.
An Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai on Sunday evening due to a technical issue. According to the details, the flight was airborne for more than two hours before it finally landed at the Chennai airport.
Details about the number of passengers were not available. However, the flight took off little past 8 pm from Thiruvananthapuram and landed in Chennai at around 10.35 pm, as per information from Flightradar24.com.
Congress MP KC Venugopal was among the passengers on the flight, and described the experience as 'frighteningly close to tragedy" in a post shared on X.
The post read, 'Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi – carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers – came frighteningly close to tragedy today."
'What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence. About an hour later, the Captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai," he mentioned.
'For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt – another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway," he wrote.
'In that split second, the Captain's quick decision to pull up saved every life on board. The flight landed safely on the second attempt. We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck," the post further read.
Meanwhile, the airline, in a statement, said, 'The flight crew of AI2455 operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on 10 August made a precautionary diversion to Chennai due to a suspected technical issue and given the weather conditions en route."
Air India said the flight landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft will undergo the necessary checks.
Alternative arrangements were being made to fly the passengers to their destinations at the earliest, Air India said, and regretted the inconvenience caused.
In recent weeks, there have been instances of some of Air India's aircraft facing technical snags.
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