Unexplained diversion of Delhi-Chennai Air India flight leaves 312 passengers stranded at midnight
The trouble began with an Air India flight, which departed from Delhi at 5:55 pm with 152 passengers and 6 crew members. The flight was scheduled to land in Chennai at 8:40 pm. It arrived in Chennai's airspace around 8:30 pm as planned but was not given permission to land.;
CHENNAI: A series of operational disruptions involving Air India flights led to significant delays and confusion for over 300 passengers at Chennai and Bengaluru airports on Wednesday night, with officials providing unclear reasons for the incident.
The trouble began with an Air India flight, which departed from Delhi at 5:55 pm with 152 passengers and 6 crew members. The flight was scheduled to land in Chennai at 8:40 pm. It arrived in Chennai's airspace around 8:30 pm as planned but was not given permission to land.
The aircraft was forced to circle overhead for approximately half an hour before air traffic control at Chennai International Airport instructed it to divert to Bengaluru. The flight subsequently landed in Bengaluru at 9:35 pm.
When questioned about the reason for denying the aircraft landing rights in Chennai, Chennai Airport officials declined to provide a clear explanation. They stated that the flight diverted to Bengaluru due to a "problem" with landing in Chennai and redirected all queries to Air India.
An Air India spokesperson, when contacted, attributed the diversion to "operational reasons." The airline confirmed that the flight landed safely in Bengaluru under normal conditions, not as an emergency landing, and that arrangements were being made to transport the passengers to Chennai.
The disruption created a domino effect. The same aircraft was scheduled to operate as the return flight, from Chennai to Delhi at 9:40 pm with 160 passengers onboard. These passengers, who had already completed security checks and were waiting to board, were only informed of a delay without any specific reason.
The diverted aircraft eventually returned from Bengaluru to Chennai with the original 152 passengers around 11:30 pm. Subsequently, the 160 passengers waiting for the Delhi flight were boarded, and the aircraft finally departed for Delhi in the early hours of Thursday at 1:30 am, after a four-hour delay.
In total, 312 passengers—152 from the diverted flight and 160 from the delayed departure—faced considerable distress, stranded at the Chennai and Bengaluru airports.