An Air India Express flight ferrying passengers from Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai returned on Sunday barely a couple of hours after take-off due to an issue with the air conditioning system of the aircraft. The flight, IX 539, which took off with 178 people onboard -- including the crew -- at 1.19 PM returned back and landed safely at 3.52 PM, news agency PTI reported an airport official as saying.
"The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew are fine. A local standby was declared. It was an AC issue, " the official said.
The airline arranged for another aircraft to accommodate all the passengers for the rescheduled departure, as per an Air India spokesperson.
In a statement, an Air India spokesperson informed: "Air India Express flight (IX-539) operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai, experienced a technical issue with the air conditioning system after take-off. The operating crew elected to carry out a precautionary landing at Thiruvananthapuram. The airline promptly arranged for another aircraft to ensure a comfortable journey, accommodating all the guests for the rescheduled departure at 1800 hours."
Earlier this month, a passenger allegedly abused and assaulted a senior Air India official on board its Sydney-Delhi flight recently.
An Air India spokesperson, in a statement, said, "A passenger on board AI-301 operating Sydney-Delhi on July 9, 2023, behaved in an unacceptable manner during flight, despite verbal and written warnings, causing distress to other passengers, which included one of our employees." "Upon the flight's safe landing at Delhi, the passenger was handed over to the security agency, and the passenger later apologised in writing," the airline said.
It also informed that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was "duly informed" of the incident and added that the airline "will take a firm stand against misbehaviour. We will pursue this to the full extent of the law."
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