Dubai-bound Air India Express flight lands safely after fixing 'hydraulic failure' in Mumbai
Air India Express flight had made emergency return to Mumbai due to snag
Dubai: A Dubai-bound Air India Express flight from Mumbai, which reportedly returned to Mumbai due to a "hydraulic" failure on Sunday afternoon, landed in Dubai at 9.36pm, an airline spokesperson confirmed to Gulf News.
The flight IX 247 carrying around 185 persons on board reached Dubai after a delay of almost six and a half hours after the snag was rectified in Mumbai.
“The scheduled arrival time was 2:55pm. The flight landed at Terminal 2 of Dubai International Airport at 9:36pm. All are absolutely safe,” the spokesperson said.
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft took off for Dubai around 1.15 pm.
But after an hour into the journey, the flight returned to land with full emergency at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai.
The aircraft reportedly suffered a hydraulic snag necessitating the return. However, there was no harm to any passenger or crew.
"Full emergency was declared at [2:28pm] for Air India Express flight [IX 247] operating on the Mumbai-Dubai route following the pilot seeking a diversion back to the city due to hydraulic failure," a source was quoted as saying by Indian news agency PTI.
An Air India Express spokesperson told the news agency that a "technical glitch" forced the aircraft to turn back to Mumbai.
"Due to the technical glitch.... noticed by the pilot-in-command, the flight crew decided to turn back the aircraft to Mumbai in view of passengers' safety," the spokesperson said.
The aircraft arrived back in Mumbai safely at around 3 pm, he added.
"The snag was later rectified by airline engineers and aircraft was declared airworthy. The same plane with all 177 passengers resumed its journey at around 8 pm," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.