Air India flight lands safely in Hong Kong after returning due to ‘technical issue’
Just four days after a plane crash that took at least 270 lives, another Air India flight has run into trouble in mid-air.
The plane, also a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, returned to Hong Kong due to a “technical issue”.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo for illustration purposes only.
Air India flight turned back to Hong Kong after reaching 22,000 feet
Flight AI315 was travelling from Hong Kong to Delhi on Monday (16 June), said Air India in a statement quoted by the Hindustan Times.
But shortly after take-off, it “air-returned” to Hong Kong due to a “technical issue”, the airline added without elaborating on the nature of the issue.
“The flight landed safely at Hong Kong and is undergoing checks as a matter of abundant precaution,” it also revealed.
According to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, the plane took off shortly after 12 noon local time and reached an altitude of about 22,000 feet before turning back to Hong Kong about 30 minutes later.
Source: FlightRadar24
It landed at about 1.15pm local time.
Pilot reportedly told air control that he wanted to turn back
According to recordings posted online and heard by Reuters, one of the plane’s pilots was heard telling air traffic controllers that “for technical reasons, sir, we would like to stay closer to Hong Kong, maybe we will come back and land back into Hong Kong once we sort out the problem”.
This happened about 15 minutes after take-off.
“We don’t want to continue further,” he added.
The Airport Authority Hong Kong has asked Air India to submit a report on the incident, reported South China Morning Post.
India orders all Boeing 787s to be inspected
The incident comes after an Air India flight crash-landed near Ahmedabad last Thursday (12 June), killing 241 people on board as well as dozens on the ground.
Only one passenger survived the crash, a man who was seated in seat 11A.
The crash led to India’s aviation regulator ordering all Boeing 787s being operated by local carriers to be inspected.
Air India did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the Hong Kong flight and the recording of the pilot.
Boeing has not yet responded to Reuters’ request for comment on the flight.
Also read: Air India flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after alleged bomb threat
Air India flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after alleged bomb threat
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Featured image adapted from Wikimedia Commons and FlightRadar24. Photo on the left for illustration purposes only.
Air India flight returns to Hong Kong due to ‘technical issue’ shortly after take-off
