Tech snag diverts AI’s Thiruvananthapuram -Delhi flight to Chennai | Chennai News

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: At least 140 passengers, including Kerala 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.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. 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.