An Air India flight en route to London Heathrow returned to Delhi on Thursday afternoon due to a technical issue after being airborne for nearly seven hours.
Air India flight AI111 was operating from Delhi to London on Thursday. The flight had taken off from Delhi around 6 AM on Thursday and landed back at about 12.30 PM, news agency PTI reported.
Details about the number of passengers onboard could not be ascertained.
Air India says flight landed safely
An Air India spokesperson was quoted as saying that the flight made a precautionary air-return to the national capital following a suspected technical issue.
"The aircraft landed safely and consistent with Air India's high safety standards. It is currently subject to extensive technical evaluations, which will require additional time to complete," the spokesperson said in a statement, as per PTI.
Meanwhile, sources told the news agency that noises were heard in the aircraft, following which it was diverted.
The spokesperson also regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers due to the unforeseen situation and said the airline was making every effort to ensure passengers are able to continue their journey to London at the earliest.
Seven hours in the air
The aircraft operating the flight AI111 was airborne for around four hours before the decision was taken to divert the plane when it was in the Saudi Arabian airspace.
In total, the plane was airborne for nearly seven hours before landing back in the national capital, according to information available on the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.com.
Air India started operating A350-900 planes from January 2024.
The same A350-900 aircraft VT-JRF had faced a technical issue on 15 March, following which the plane operating the flight from New York to Delhi was diverted to the Irish town of Shannon, sources told PTI.
