Air India's Mumbai-bound Boeing 777 plane returns to Delhi. Here's what happened
Air India's Mumbai-bound B777 plane , carrying around 335 people, was in the air for nearly an hour before returning to Delhi. The aircraft made an emergency landing, the spokesperson said.
Air India's Boeing 777 aircraft, which was flying from Delhi to Mumbai, returned to the national capital on Monday, December 22. An airline spokesperson said that the Mumbai-bound flight AI887 returned to Delhi after take-off due to “a technical issue as per standard operating procedure.”
The plane, carrying around 335 people, was in the air for nearly an hour before returning to Delhi. The aircraft made an emergency landing, the spokesperson added. “The aircraft landed safely at Delhi, and the passengers and crew disembarked,” the Air India spokesperson said.
The airline regretted the inconvenience caused by this unforeseen situation.
"The aircraft is undergoing the necessary checks. Our ground team at Delhi is providing immediate assistance to the passengers and alternative arrangements have been made to fly them to their destination shortly. At Air India, the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain top priority,” Air India spokesperson said.
What happened exactly?
Sources told news agency PTI that Air India's Delhi-Mumbai flight AI887 returned to the national capital after an engine issue was reported on the plane.
A source at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the plane made an air turn back as during flap retraction after take-off, the flight crew observed low engine oil pressure on the right-hand engine.
The engine oil pressure dropped to zero, and the inspection is in progress, the source said.
The source also noted that review of previous records does not indicate any abnormality in oil consumption.
According to the airline, the plane is undergoing the necessary checks and alternative arrangements have been made to fly the passengers to their destination.
The flight AI887 was being operated with a Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft and was airborne for about an hour after taking off around 6.30 am, as per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.
(With inputs from ANI)