NEW DELHI: An Air India flight from New Delhi to Canada with 280 passengers and 10 crew members had to return midway on Thursday while it was flying in Chinese airspace, as the airline had dispatched an aircraft that was not legally permitted by Canadian authorities into its airspace. The air turnback was made after the ground staff of the airline realised that the wrong aircraft had been dispatched, said sources.
Canada permits the Extended Range (ER) Boeing aircraft from India, but not the Long Range (LR) Aircraft. Air India had dispatched an LR aircraft due to a documentation blunder from its side, revealed sources.
AI 185, a Boeing 777-232 LR, had taken off at 12.18 pm from Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to the flight tracking platform, Flightradar24. The plane was approaching the Kunming area in China when it decided to return.
A source said, “The flight had flown for nearly 3.5 hours when the crew was alerted by the Air India ground staff team that the aircraft being flown by them would not be permitted inside Canada since it was a Long Range One. The cockpit crew then decided to turn back and got permission from the Air Traffic Control at IGIA to return.”
A Delhi airport source confirmed that AI 185 had returned at 7.19 pm on Thursday, nearly seven hours after it took off. It departed again with all the passengers on Friday on the correct aircraft model.
Another source said the decision to immediately bring back the aircraft was taken after the blunder was discovered to avoid further complications. “The situation could have been explained, and special permission taken from Canadian authorities. But then again, when departing from there, issues would crop up, as much documentation needs to be done before any trip. This could pose an issue, too. Hence, returning was a prudent choice,” he said.
The LR aircraft is actually a superior model to the ER one and has superior features, the source added.
In a statement, the airline said, “Air India flight AI185, operating from Delhi to Vancouver on 19 March, returned to Delhi due to an operational issue and in line with established standard operating procedures. The aircraft landed safely, and all passengers and crew disembarked.”
The flyers were accommodated in a hotel and all necessary assistance provided, the airline said. “The flight departed this morning (Friday) with all the passengers,” it added.