An Air India flight (AI 581) carrying as many as 114 passengers operating in the Mumbai-Calicut sector returned minutes after its pushback due to a technical issue, according to an official on Sunday.
However, the flight was made ready for take-off after thorough checks. The flight finally took off for its destination Calicut at 9.50 am, the airline added.
"AI 581, operating on the Mumbai Calicut sector, came back at 6.25 am after pushback at 6.13 am owing to a technical issue. After engineering checks, the flight is now ready for take-off," the Air India spokesperson said.
"A delay of approx 3 hours 114 pax on board. Air India accords top priority to safety issues, so thorough checks were carried out before the aircraft was cleared for operations again," the spokesperson said.
Similar incident with Vistara flight
In another similar incident earlier this year, a Mumbai-bound Vistara flight returned to Delhi after "whistling" sound was heard on the Boeing 737 aircraft's cockpit.
Aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had ordered a probe into the incident even as no structural deficiency was observed during preliminary ground inspection of the plane.
A Vistara airlines spokesperson said that the aircraft returned midway due to a technical snag and alternate aircraft was immediately arranged.
"A minor technical snag was detected shortly after take-off on Vistara flight UK 951 operating Delhi to Mumbai on 5 September 2022. As a precautionary step, pilots decided to turn-back and the aircraft landed safely at the IGI Airport, Delhi.
"An alternate aircraft was immediately arranged, which departed shortly. Inconvenience caused to customers is deeply regretted. As always, safety of our customers and crew is most important to Vistara," said the airline's spokesperson.
