KC Venugopal makes runway horror claim; Air India refutes it
What's the story
An Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai on Sunday due to a suspected technical issue and adverse weather conditions. The flight, which took off a little past 8:00pm and was diverted after two hours, landed safely in Chennai at around 10:35pm. Among the passengers onboard was Congress MP KC Venugopal, who described the experience as "frighteningly close to tragedy."
Passenger's testimony
'Faced unprecedented turbulence...flight signal fault'
Venugopal took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his harrowing experience on Air India flight AI 2455. He wrote, "What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey." The MP detailed that after takeoff, they faced unprecedented turbulence and later learned about a flight signal fault, which led to the diversion.
Landing scare
'Another aircraft...on the same runway': Venugopal
After circling the airport for nearly two hours awaiting clearance to land, Venugopal claimed they experienced a near-miss collision during the first landing attempt in Chennai. He wrote, "During our first attempt—another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway." The MP credited the captain's quick decision to pull up for preventing a possible disaster. He ended his post by saying, "We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck."
Airline's clarification
Air India responds to MP's post
In response to Venugopal's post, Air India clarified that the diversion was precautionary due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions. The airline denied Venugopal's claim about another aircraft on the runway, stating that a go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing. They assured that their pilots are well-trained for such situations and follow standard procedures throughout flights.
Twitter Post
Read his post here
Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi - carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers - came frighteningly close to tragedy today.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 10, 2025
What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented…
Political reaction
BJP's Amit Malviya reacts
Bharatiya Janata Party's IT cell chief Amit Malviya has since reacted to Venugopal's post, saying if he misrepresented facts, he should be put on a no-fly list by Air India. Malviya wrote, "This is extremely serious. If senior Congress leader KC Venugopal claims an Air India flight had to abort landing in Chennai because another aircraft was on the runway and the airline immediately contradicts him, then one of them is misrepresenting facts."