An Air India flight bound for London Heathrow returned to Delhi due to a technical problem on Thursday afternoon after being in the air for nearly seven hours.
Air India flight AI111 was flying from Delhi to London on Thursday. The flight took off from Delhi around 6:00 am on Thursday and landed back around 12:30 pm, news agency PTI reported.
Details of the number of passengers on board could not be ascertained.
Air India says the flight landed safely
An Air India spokesperson said the flight made a precautionary air return to the national capital following a suspected technical problem.
“The aircraft landed safely and in accordance with Air India’s high safety standards. It is currently undergoing an extensive technical evaluation which will take more time to complete,” the spokesperson said in a statement, according to PTI.
Meanwhile, sources told the news agency that noises were heard in the plane after which it was diverted.
The spokesperson also expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to passengers due to the unforeseen situation and said the airline was making every effort to allow passengers to continue their journey to London as soon as possible.
7 hours in the air
The aircraft operating flight AI111 was in the air for about four hours before the decision was taken to divert the aircraft while it was in Saudi Arabian airspace.
In total, the plane was in the air for nearly seven hours before it landed back in the state capital, according to information available on flight-tracking website Flightradar24.com.
Air India started operations of A350-900 aircraft from January 2024.
The same A350-900 VT-JRF aircraft faced a technical problem on March 15, following which the aircraft operating a flight from New York to Delhi was diverted to the Irish city of Shannon, sources told PTI.
