Another Close Call for Air India: Trivandrum-Delhi Flight Narrowly Avoids Runway Collision in Chennai

Chennai: A potentially catastrophic incident was narrowly averted on Sunday when an Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi, carrying Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers, encountered severe turbulence, a technical fault, and a near runway collision during an emergency diversion to Chennai.

Venugopal, who addressed the matter in an X post on Sunday evening, described the journey aboard flight AI 2455 as “harrowing” and called for urgent investigation and accountability. The Congress leader said the flight, already delayed at departure, was hit by “unprecedented turbulence” shortly after take-off. About an hour later, the captain reported a flight signal fault and diverted the aircraft to Chennai.

For nearly two hours, the flight circled the Chennai airport awaiting clearance to land. During the first landing attempt, the passengers experienced a heart-stopping moment when another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway. The captain’s quick decision to abort the landing and pull up was credited with preventing a tragedy. The plane landed safely on the second attempt.

“We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck,” Venugopal posted on X, tagging the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), urging them to investigate the incident urgently, fix accountability, and ensure such lapses never happen again.

This marks yet another troubling episode for Air India in recent weeks. In a separate incident, another aircraft from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi experienced a power outage shortly after take-off, raising fresh concerns over the airline’s operational safety.