Air India flight AI185 from Delhi to Canada's Vancouver returned to Delhi following a technical issue shortly after takeoff. The aircraft landed back safely at Delhi Airport, as per the airline. The Aircraft will leave at 1:30 pm, an Air India Spokesperson informed on Friday. This comes days after a Delhi-bound Air India flight scheduled to take off from Vancouver on Sunday was delayed for 12 hours before it was cancelled due to technical reasons.
"Air India flight AI185 from Delhi to Vancouver returned to Delhi following a technical issue shortly after takeoff. The aircraft landed back safely at Delhi Airport. The Aircraft will leave at 1:30 pm," news agency ANI quoted an Air India Spokesperson as saying.
A Time Of India report mentioned sources as saying that a passenger saw sparks from the right engine of the Boeing 777 (VT-ALM) that was operating as AI 185. Pilots then dumped fuel and landed back in Delhi safely around 7.30 am, it added. The airline stated that there was no bird hit, as per the report.
In the earlier incident where a Delhi-bound Air India flight was scheduled to take off from Vancouver, anguished passengers took to Twitter to complain about the 12-hour delay and cancellations. While some passengers said the airline assured them of a refund, there were others who claimed that Air India did not offer compensation.
Air India operates ultra-long-haul flights of over 16 hours from the US and Canada. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the airline has been facing a manpower shortage causing delays and cancellations since February. It has also cancelled flights to the US due to this very reason.
In another serious incident, around 300 passengers of a VietJet flight going to Ho Chi Minh City were left stranded at Mumbai airport without any water or food for approximately 10 hours due to a glitch in the aircraft, a passenger told news agency PTI.
More On It: 300 Passengers Of VietJet Flight Stranded In Mumbai For Over 10 Hours Without Any Food Or Water: Report