Doha-bound Air India Express returns to Calicut after mid-air tech fault

The Doha-bound Air India Express flight with 188 onboard returned to Calicut two hours after take-off due to a cabin AC anomaly, the airline arranged an alternate aircraft

An Air India Express flight from Calicut to Doha had to return to the airport on Wednesday morning because of a technical problem, news agency PTI reported. 

Flight IX 375 took off from Calicut International Airport at 9.07 am with 188 people onboard, including crew members. Around two hours later, at 11.12 am, it came back to the same airport. “There was a technical problem with the cabin air conditioning. It was not an emergency landing,” an airport official told PTI. Passengers were safely taken off the aircraft. 

An Air India Express spokesperson said the aircraft landed as a safety measure. “It was a precautionary landing due to a technical fault. We’ll arrange an alternate flight by 1.30 pm,” he said, adding that food and water have been provided to passengers at the airport while they wait. 

 

Delhi to Kolkata flight aborts take-off

On Monday (July 21), an Air India flight from Delhi to Kolkata had to stop its take-off due to a technical issue spotted during the process. The aircraft, flight AI2403, had 160 passengers. The plane was stopped on the runway at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi so safety checks could be done. 

Following standard safety rules, the cockpit crew decided not to continue with the take-off. All passengers were safely removed from the plane after it was brought to a halt.

 

Air India plane skids off Mumbai runway

At Mumbai airport the same day, an Air India A320neo aircraft skidded off the runway under the impact of heavy rainfall. The plane went into an unpaved area briefly before coming back onto the runway. All passengers and crew safely exited the aircraft after it reached the terminal. 

The aircraft has been grounded. The main runway suffered slight damage. As such, the Mumbai airport authority (MIAL) activated a secondary runway for operations. 

This incident occurred just weeks after the June 12 crash of Air India flight AI171, where 241 of the 242 people onboard died. 

  

Air India finds no issues in Boeing 787, 737

Air India said on Tuesday (July 22) that it had completed safety checks on all Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft in its fleet. These checks focused on the locking mechanism of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS), and no problems were found. 

The checks were done after India’s aviation regulator, DGCA, ordered all airlines flying these models to inspect the FCS and report findings by July 21. This came after a crash involving a Boeing 787 on June 12 in Ahmedabad, in which over 260 people were killed. 

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released a preliminary report stating that in flight AI171, the fuel control switches went from “run” to “cutoff” shortly after take-off. This caused both engines to fail, and the plane crashed in the Meghani Nagar area of Ahmedabad.

 

[With agency inputs]