BHUBANESWAR: A Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Air India flight had to return to Mumbai after developing technical snag mid air on Monday afternoon. There were reports of smoke emanating from the cockpit which forced the pilot to make emergency landing at Mumbai 40 minutes after its take off.
The flight, with 155 passengers on board, had taken off from Mumbai at 2 pm. However, the aircraft reportedly developed a glitch mid-air at about 2.40 pm prompting the pilot to return to base and make an emergency landing. Sources said smoke was detected from the cockpit, however, the New Indian Express could not confirm it.
The flight was supposed to depart Mumbai at 11.10 am but the crew detected that air-conditioning in the aircraft was not functioning properly which led to a change in the schedule. Sources said a second aircraft was brought into operation which delayed the flight schedule. With 155 passengers on board, the second aircraft left Mumbai at 2 pm only to record technical problems after it was airborne.
After it made an emergency landing at Mumbai, all passengers were disembarked. A third aircraft was arranged by the national carrier which started around the time this report was being filed.