The Air India flight from Delhi to London returned back to the airport and all passengers had to disembark as the pilot was not prepared to go ahead with the long-haul flight
An Air India plane aborted take off after a technical scare, just weeks after another of the airline’s planes crashed.
The flight from Delhi to London returned back to the airport and all passengers had to disembark after the pilot was unhappy to go ahead with the long-haul flight. In a statement following the incident on Thursday, the airline said the cockpit crew of the Boeing 787-9 decided to “discontinue the takeoff” so checks could be carried out.
The Air India spokesman said: “Flight AI2017, operating from Delhi to London on July 31, returned to the bay due to a suspected technical issue. The cockpit crew decided to discontinue the takeoff run following standard operating procedures and brought the aircraft back for precautionary checks.” It comes after horror moment a Japan tsunami sends gigantic wall of water smashing into coast.
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The Air India statement added: “An alternative aircraft is being deployed to fly the passengers to London at the earliest. Our ground staff is extending all support and care to the guests to minimise inconvenience caused due to this unexpected delay.”
The aborted flight comes after doomed Air India flight 171 crashed in June killing all but one of the people onboard. The Boeing 787 jetliner – bound for Gatwick Airport – careered into a medical college in Ahmedabad, India, moments after take-off.
Footage of the UK-bound plane showed it plummeting towards the ground before erupting into a huge fireball. The clip appeared to have been taken from a nearby building and shows the aircraft swiftly losing height.
As it sinks lower to the ground, an explosion suddenly erupts from the plane. A giant fireball as thick, black smoke billowed out of the crash site. Other images and videos of the crash show a blanket of smoke covering the area of Ahmedabad as emergency services rushed to the scene.
The flight departed from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad but crashed just moments after taking off. Authorities have since launched a probe into what caused the crash.
Early indications found evidence that an emergency generator may have been the aircraft’s primary power source at the time it went down. One leading theory is that the plane suffered a dual engine failure, though what triggered this is yet to be determined.