Venugopal says Air India flight came close to tragedy; airline responds

New Delhi: Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said an Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi  carrying him, several MPs and other passengers came frighteningly close to tragedy on Sunday night. 

In a detailed post on X, he wrote that what began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey, describing strong turbulence soon after take off, a later announcement of a flight signal fault and a diversion to Chennai. 

He added that the aircraft circled for nearly two hours before a heart stopping first landing attempt when another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway, after which the captain pulled up and the flight landed safely on the second attempt. 

He urged the aviation regulator and the civil aviation ministry to investigate the incident, fix accountability and ensure such lapses never happen again.

Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi - carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers - came frighteningly close to tragedy today.

What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented…

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 10, 2025

Air India responded to Venugopal on X and said the diversion to Chennai was precautionary due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions en route. 

The airline said a go around was instructed by Chennai air traffic control during the first landing attempt and not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway. 

It added that its pilots followed standard procedures throughout and apologised for the inconvenience while reiterating that safety is always its priority.

Dear Mr Venugopal, we would like to clarify that the diversion to Chennai was precautionary due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions. A go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing at Chennai airport, not because of the presence…

— Air India (@airindia) August 10, 2025

The flight in question was AI2455 operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on August 10. The Airbus A320 aircraft was airborne for more than two hours, as per flight tracking data. 

Air India said the flight landed safely in Chennai and the aircraft will undergo the necessary checks. The airline said alternative arrangements are being made to fly passengers to their destinations at the earliest and expressed regret for the inconvenience. 

According to flight tracking information, the flight took off a little after 8 pm from Thiruvananthapuram and landed in Chennai around 10.35 pm. 

In recent weeks there have been instances of some Air India aircraft facing technical snags.