Air India Express flight mid-air scare: DGCA begins probe into aircraft’s emergency landing at Tiruchi airport

The DGCA official will examine the aircraft in question to determine the root cause of the incident, besides going through the conversation record between its pilot and the Air Traffic Control Tower

A senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) arrived at the Tiruchi International Airport from Chennai in the early hours on Saturday (October 12, 2024) to conduct a detailed probe into the incident involving a Sharjah-bound Air India Express flight, which made an emergency landing in Tiruchi after developing a technical glitch caused by a hydraulic failure on Friday (October 11, 2024).

The DGCA official will examine the aircraft in question to determine the root cause of the incident, besides going through the conversation record between its pilot and the Air Traffic Control Tower. The official is also expected to speak to the flight engineers and the pilot, said airport sources.

The flight, which had developed the glitch soon after take-off from Tiruchi, has been stationed at the airport. The official will submit a report regarding the incident to the DGCA authorities in New Delhi.

An alternative flight was arranged for the Sharjah-bound passengers. The flight landed here from Thiruvananthapuram airport in the early hours of Saturday. 

Airline sources said 108 passengers, including three infants, boarded the flight to Sharjah, which left at around 1.45 a.m. Twenty others opted for a change of date of journey and 15 others cancelled their journey. A full refund will be provided to those passengers who opted for cancellation.

District Collector M. Pradeep Kumar interacted with some of the passengers at the airport in the early hours of Saturday and recorded the details of the incident.

Published - October 12, 2024 11:30 am IST