Chennai (Tamil Nadu): A Delhi-bound Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram carrying several Members of Parliament, including Congress secretary KC Venugopal, made an emergency diversion to Chennai on Sunday after a suspected technical issue. Venugopal described the episode as a 'harrowing journey' that came 'frighteningly close to tragedy,' calling for an immediate probe by aviation authorities.
Flight AI 2455, already delayed at departure, encountered severe turbulence shortly after take-off. According to Venugopal, about an hour into the journey the captain reported 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,” he wrote on X.
“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,” Venugopal said, adding that passenger safety cannot depend on luck. He urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to investigate, fix accountability, and prevent such lapses in the future.
Air India Issues Statement
Air India later issued a clarification, disputing Venugopal’s account of the runway incident. “The 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,” the airline said. It added that the pilots followed standard procedures and that safety remained their top priority.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar showed the aircraft departed Thiruvananthapuram at 8:17 pm, landed in Chennai at 10:35 pm, and later took off at 1:40 am, arriving in Delhi at 3:58 am.
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of Air India’s operations. On June 12, a deadly crash killed 241 passengers and 19 people on the ground. More recently, passengers on a San Francisco–Mumbai flight reported finding cockroaches onboard, leading to an apology from the airline, which attributed the incident to insects entering during ground operations despite regular fumigation.
