An Air India Delhi-bound flight from Thiruvananthapuram made an emergency landing in Chennai on Sunday night. The reasons cited were turbulent weather and a technical issue. Among the passengers were at least four MPs from Kerala. One MP on the flight described it a “harrowing journey”, urging DGCA(Directorate General of Civil Aviation) to investigate the matter.
Air India Delhi-Bound Flight Makes Emergency Landing At Chennai Airport
Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi – carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers – came frighteningly close to tragedy today.
What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented…
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 10, 2025
Air India has been experiencing several flight delays and cancellations due to various reasons. A similar incident occurred on Sunday night when a Delhi-bound flight had to make an emergency landing in Chennai. According to a report by The New Indian Express, flight AI2455 departed at 8:04 pm from Terminal 3 of Thiruvananthapuram Airport. Just about an hour later, it was diverted to Chennai International Airport.
Reportedly, turbulent weather and a technical issue on the flight were suspected as the cause. On its arrival at the airport, the aircraft circled mid-air for nearly two hours, as instructed by the ATC, before making a safe landing at 10:39 pm. K. C. Venugopal, one of the MPs onboard, took to X and called the incident a “harrowing journey,” urging the DGCA to investigate this matter urgently.
He claimed that the plane was about to land, but another aircraft was reportedly present on the same runway, forcing the pilots to abort the landing. He wrote, “We circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt – another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway. In that split second, the Captain’s quick decision to pull up saved every life on board. The flight landed safely on the second attempt.” His caption also read, “We were saved by skill and luck.”
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Airline Calls It A “Precautionary Measure”
Air India confirmed the diversion and called the incident a precautionary measure. They responded to the minister, stating, “Dear Mr Venugopal, we would like to clarify that the diversion to Chennai was precautionary due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions. A go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing at Chennai airport, not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway.” The airline added that its pilots are well-trained to handle such situations. They also stated that they follow standard procedures to ensure passenger safety.
As per the TNIE report, the other MPs onboard were Kodikunnil Suresh, Adoor Prakash, and K. Radhakrishnan. Air India arranged another flight for the waiting passengers. That flight landed safely at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday morning, taking off from Chennai at 1:40 am and arriving at 3:48 am, five hours behind schedule.
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The aircraft that landed in Chennai will now undergo the necessary checks.
Cover Image Courtesy: Air India, Wikipedia, Konstantin von Wedelstaedt
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