A Kochi-Delhi Air India flight aborted take-off due to a technical snag. This comes after a Boeing aircraft operated by Air India from Bengaluru to Gwalior missed landing on the first attempt, and when it landed, it was “rough” and at a “very high speed”. Many passengers even claimed that the aeroplane tilted at one side and that life jackets came out.
The flight, AI504, which is an Airbus, was supposed to take off at 10:40 PM from the Cochin International Airport. However, it departed at 2:44 AM and landed in Delhi at 5:33 AM, as per data from Flightradar24.
‘Air India flight skidded on runway’
Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, who was on this flight, said that it felt like the flight “skidded on the runway”.
“Something unusual with this flight AI 504… it just felt like the flight skid on the runway… and hasn’t taken off yet…,” he wrote in his Facebook post, where he expressed that he is “feeling confused”.
He also shared a picture from the airport, apparently after deboarding the flight.
On X (formerly Twitter), he added, “Air India cancelled AI 504 and announced a new flight at 1 am, which hasn’t started boarding. Today is the third flight, which has been AOG.”
Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Mather, who was also on board, said the pilot later announced that the aircraft could not be used for travel.
“Now, the pilot announced… this aircraft cannot be used for travel. So, will be shifting passengers to another aircraft and approximately by 1 am,” news agency PTI quoted Mather as saying.
Air India ‘regretted’ the tech snag
An Air India spokesperson “regretted” the “unforeseen situation” and added the aircraft was brought to bay for maintenance checks per the SOPs.
“The cockpit crew decided to discontinue the take-off run, following Standard Operating Procedures and brought the aircraft back to the bay for maintenance checks,” an Air India spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also confirmed that all passengers were deboarded and an alternate aircraft was used for the journey.
The statement added, “All passengers have disembarked and our ground colleagues in Kochi are extending support to them. The inconvenience caused to the passengers due to this unforeseen situation is sincerely regretted,” before adding, “At Air India, the safety and well-being of passengers and crew remain our top priority.”
A Cochi Airport authority, in a statement, said, “A technical issue caused an Air India flight bound for Delhi to abort the take-off. Air India is rectifying it and has informed Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) that they are changing the aircraft. The expected new time of departure is 0100 hrs.”
Other Air India flights cancelled
Another Air India flight, AI624, which was scheduled from Cochin to Mumbai, has been cancelled, per the Flightradar24 data. The flight was supposed to take-off at 10:10 AM and land in the financial capital of India at 12:30 PM.
Another flight from Milan to Delhi was cancelled by the airline after a maintenance task was identified during pushback. This one was operated on a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
“Flight AI138 operating from Milan to Delhi on August 16 was cancelled due to a maintenance task identified during pushback. Our ground team in Milan extended immediate assistance to all the affected passengers, providing hotel accommodation and offering full refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling as opted by the passengers,” Air India said in a statement.