NEW DELHI: Air India today operated a special flight from Zurich to Shannon International Airport in Ireland to bring back the 232 passengers and 8 crew stuck there after their flight to Delhi from New York was diverted. Flyers have already spent two days at hotels in Zurich and are expected to reach Delhi nearly 60 hours after their scheduled arrival here.
An Air India source said, "The special flight took off from Shannon airport with all the passengers at 7 pm (India time) on Wednesday and is expected to reach Delhi airport around 5 am on Thursday (March 19)." Flight AI 102, an Airbus A350-900 aircraft, was diverted to Ireland after it flew for six hours from JFK airport. According to an airline source, the pilots detected vibrations in the aircraft on and off midair and diverted it to the nearest available airport.” Air India, meanwhile, stated that it was a precautionary landing.
The condition of the flight, which was grounded at Shannon airport, is not yet known.