NEW DELHI: The cockpit crew of an Air India flight from Mumbai to Jodhpur, carrying 110 passengers, decided to abort their take-off on Friday after detecting an operational issue at the last minute. This is the third Air India flight this week to be discontinued at the eleventh hour due to various issues.
Passengers suffered a 3.5-hour delay at the Mumbai airport. The journey time for this route is just an hour and 50 minutes. The flight was brought back to the parking bay and the flyers deboarded. They boarded an alternative aircraft arranged by the airline at 12.36 pm after the security checks were redone.
The Airbus (A319-112 series) aircraft was scheduled to depart at 9.15 am from Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, reveals FlightAware, a flight tracking platform.
An Air India spokesperson said in a statement, “Flight AI645 operating from Mumbai to Jodhpur on 22 August returned to bay due to an operational issue. The cockpit crew decided to discontinue the take-off run following standard operating procedures and brought the aircraft back.”
Alternative arrangements were made to fly the passengers to their destination. Air India sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers due to this unforeseen delay, the statement said.
“Our ground team at Mumbai had extended immediate assistance to minimise the inconvenience,” it added.
On August 17, two Air India flights had aborted take-off – AI 2479 from Delhi to Leh due to a technical issue and AI613 from Mumbai to Ahmedabad due to a maintenance issue. Flyers were sent by alternative flights delaying their trip by four and six hours respectively.
Additionally, an incoming Air India flight to Delhi from Zurich (AI 152) had to be cancelled at the last minute due to a technical snag.
India & Pak extend air space closure for fifth time
India on Friday issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) extending its air space closure for Pakistan-registered aircraft upto September 24 (5.29 am). Pakistan had done the same a day earlier. The countries closed their respective air spaces in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. It was supposed to be for a month initially and end on May 23. It has since then been extended every month making it thenfifth extension this time.