An Air India flight from Thriruvananthapuram to Muscat landed back at the international airport here after the pilot reported a technical snag 20 minutes after the flight took off.
The Boeing 747 IX 549 flight, with 154 passengers on board, took off from the airport at 9.50 am, an Air India spokesperson said. Twenty minutes into the flight, the pilot reported a technical snag and sought permission from the ATC to land back. It was a smooth, normal landing, he said.
‘’The passengers were served breakfast on board and informed that an alternative flight had been arranged, which would depart at 3.30 am on Saturday. The passengers have been provided hotel accommodation,’’ the spokesperson said.
Since the aircraft was loaded with a large amount of fuel, it spent some time in the air to release the fuel into the sea to maintain the pre-set landing weight parameters, the spokesperson said.