Senior Congress leader and Chairman of Public Accounts Committee of Parliament K.K. C. Venugopal claimed that the Air India aircraft, bringing him and many other MPs from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi, had reached “very close to the tragedy”.
Meanwhile, the aviation company said in a statement that the flight number AI 2455 coming from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was sent to Chennai on Sunday evening due to technical fault.
Venugopal said in a post on ‘X’, “AI 2455, going from Trivandrum to Delhi, reached very close to a tragedy today, in which I, many MPs and hundreds of passengers were aboard.”
He said, “This journey, which started with delay in departure, turned into a terrible experience. Soon after flying we faced unprecedented turbulance (shocking aircraft due to changes in wind speed). About an hour later the Captain announced a malfunction in the flight signal and the aircraft was taken to Chennai. ”
The Congress leader said, “While waiting for the permission to land for about two hours, we kept circling the airport and after that when an attempt was made to land at the airport for the first time, a heartbreaking moment came and it was told that another aircraft is present on the runway. In a moment, the aircraft flew up and saved everyone’s life in a moment. In the second attempt, the aircraft landed safely. ”
Venugopal said, “We (Captain’s) Skills and Kismet saved us. The safety of passengers cannot be left to luck. I appeal to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to immediately investigate the incident, decide the responsibility and make sure that this type of lapse never happens again. ”
Responding to Venugopal on ‘X’, Air India said, “We would like to clarify that the path change towards Chennai was taken precautionary due to suspicious technical problems and bad weather.”
The airline claimed, “Chennai ATC (Air Traffic Control) had directed ‘Go-Around’ during an attempt to land at Chennai Airport for the first time, not another aircraft was present on the runway … Our pilots are well trained to deal with such situations and in this case they followed the standard procedures during the flight.”
He said, “We understand that such an experience can be uncomfortable and you are sorry for the inconvenience caused by changing the path.” However, security is always our priority. ”
According to information received from the website ‘FutureDar 24’, monitoring flights, flight number AI 2455 operated by Airbus A320 aircraft remained in the air for more than two hours.
The airline said in a earlier statement, “The crew of AI 2455, which flew from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on August 10, turned the aircraft towards Chennai as a precautionary technical problem and bad weather in the route.”
Air India said that the aircraft landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft would be investigated. He said that alternative arrangements are being made to reach the passengers to their destination as soon as possible and he regretted the inconvenience. Details about the number of passengers are not available.
According to information received from ‘Fluetherdar 24’, the aircraft flew from Thiruvananthapuram after eight o’clock and reached Chennai at around 10.35 pm. In recent weeks, technical faults in some Air India aircraft have come to light.
