Air India’s US-bound flight returns to Mumbai after suspected technical snag
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The total number of passengers on board, along with the time at which the airline departed and returned, was not available in the preliminary statement.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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New Delhi – An Air India flight scheduled from Mumbai to Newark in the United States had to return after take-off as the crew identified a suspected technical snag, according to a statement issued by the airline on Oct 22.
“The crew of Flight AI191 operating from Mumbai to Newark on Oct 22 made a precautionary air-return to Mumbai due to a suspected technical issue. The flight landed safely back in Mumbai and the aircraft is undergoing necessary inspections,” said an Air India statement.
The total number of passengers on board, along with the time at which the airline departed and returned, was not available in the preliminary statement.
As per the usual schedule, the AI191 flight departs at 1.10am (India time) from Mumbai and reaches Newark at 7.55am (local time).
Due to the flight’s cancellation, the return flight from Newark to Mumbai – numbered AI144 – was also cancelled.
The incident comes close on the heels of Delhi-bound Air India plane running into a technical snag at the Milan airport in Italy on Oct 17, stranding more than 250 passengers at the airport just ahead of Diwali.
The airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner (VT-ANN) had encountered a technical issue upon landing in Milan, preventing the aircraft from operating the return journey to Delhi.
Air India then scheduled an additional flight from Milan to Delhi on Oct 19 to bring back home 256 passengers who were stranded in Milan since Oct 17.
The airline said it had extended all immediate assistance to affected passengers, including hotel accommodation and meals. Full refunds or complimentary rescheduling were also offered as per passenger preference.
A similar incident occurred on Aug 16, when an Air India flight on the same route was cancelled due to a technical issue that was noticed during pushback.
According to Air India, a maintenance task was identified just as the aircraft was preparing for departure.
The subsequent delay caused the operating crew to exceed mandatory flight duty time limitation norms, making it unsafe and impermissible for them to continue. THE STATESMAN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
