Suspected snag: Air India Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi flight diverts to Chennai
NEW DELHI: Air India's Thiruvananthapuram (TRV)-Delhi flight AI 2455 on Sunday night with several MPs among the passengers safely diverted to Chennai following a suspected snag.
On its approach to Chennai, the Airbus A320neo ((VT-TNL) was given a go-around by the air traffic control (ATC) — meaning asked to abort landing and then touch down in second attempt — which the pilots executed safely.
However, the announcement of the flight diverting due to a snag, enroute bad weather and then the go-around added to the anxiety of passengers. Congress MP K C Venugopal who represents Alappuzha in Lok Sabha was among the parliamentarians on board.
He said on X early Monday morning: 'AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi, carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers, came frighteningly close to tragedy. 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.'
'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.
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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. I urge DGCA and aviation ministry to investigate this incident urgently, fix accountability, and ensure such lapses never happen again,' Venugopal added.
Aircraft routinely go around for safety reasons due to a number of factors like unstabilised approach or a plane/vehicle being on the runway it is supposed to land on.
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 operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on August 10 made a precautionary diversion to Chennai due to a suspected technical issue and given the weather conditions enroute. 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 remain top priority.
'
Congress MP for Virudhunagar Manickam Tagore B who as also on board said on X: 'Shocked & shaken. Air India AI 2455 from TRV to Delhi, carrying MPs & hundreds of passengers, narrowly escaped disaster today — turbulence, flight signal fault, and a near runway collision in Chennai…. Passenger safety cannot rely on luck.
We demand answers & action now.'
Replying to him, 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, VT-TQE, which flew the passengers from Chennai to Delhi as AI 2455. The usual flying time of AI 2455 (TRV-Delhi) is 3.5 hours with a schedule departure time 7.15 pm. According to flight tracking sites, it took off with a slight delay on Sunday at 8 pm & landed in Chennai at 10.39 pm. The alternate aircraft took off from Chennai at 1.40 am & landed in Delhi at about 4 am.
Seasoned aviators say while AI 2455 had a routine suspected snag, passenger anxiety levels have expectedly been higher post the deadly June 12 AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad and subsequent incidents.
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