Mumbai-bound Air India flight suffers technical snag; passengers deplaned
What's the story
An Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai via Kolkata encountered a technical issue in one of its engines, leading to the deplaning of passengers during a scheduled stop at Kolkata airport early on Tuesday.
As scheduled, Air India flight AI180, a Boeing 777-200LR, left from San Francisco International Airport.
However, when it arrived at the Kolkata airport at 12:45am, it faced a technical issue with the left engine, delaying take-off from Kolkata to Mumbai.
Pilot
Passengers were asked to disembark
At around 5:20am passengers were asked to disembark for safety reasons, as per the aircraft's captain, PTI reported.
The captain informed the passengers that the step was being taken "in the interest of flight safety."
Images from Kolkata Airport showed the plane grounded on the runway, with airline officials assessing the faulty engine.
Operational challenges
Flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad canceled
Earlier on Monday, Air India's flight AI2493 from Mumbai to Ahmedabad was canceled after delays due to operational issues, reported ANI.
The Airbus A321-211 (VT-PPL) scheduled for the flight was initially delayed for unknown reasons.
Meanwhile, an Air India Express flight from Delhi to Ranchi had to return to Delhi shortly after take-off on Monday due to a suspected technical problem.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 was supposed to land at Ranchi's Birsa Munda Airport at 6:20pm.
Mid-air return
Air India flight from Hong Kong to Delhi returns mid-air
The same day, an Air India flight to Delhi had to return to Hong Kong mid-air after the pilot detected a suspected technical issue.
Flight AI315, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, had taken off from Hong Kong and was scheduled to land in Delhi at 12:20pm, as per FlightRadar24.
All passengers were safely deboarded, and the aircraft is now being inspected for safety concerns.