"Decision taken in best interest of safety of our passengers, crew": Air India issues fresh statement on Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi flight

New Delhi [India], August 11 (ANI): Air India on Monday clarified that the Delhi bound flight was diverted to Chennai as a precautionary measure and in view of the weather conditions en route to Delhi and claime that the decision was taken in the "best interest" of the safety of the passngers and crew.
In a fresh statement, Air India Spokesperson said, "Air India clarifies that flight AI2455 of 10 August operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai as a precautionary measure after the pilot detected a suspected technical issue and in view of the weather conditions en route to Delhi. It was decided to divert to Chennai instead of Bengaluru as the weather in Chennai was clear. As the aircraft was overweight for an immediate landing the pilot had to hold over Chennai to reduce weight and no emergency was declared. During the first landing approach, the ATC asked the pilots to initiate a go-around as another aircraft that had taken off from the same runway had reported a suspected foreign object debris (FOD) on the runway"
"After following a standard go-around, the flight made a normal and safe landing. We would like to reiterate that the decision to divert to Chennai was taken in the best interest of the safety of our passengers and crew. Our crew are well trained to handle such situations, and in this case, they followed the protocols during the entire flight. All the affected passengers were accommodated on alternate flights to Delhi and the said aircraft has also resumed commercial operations. Air India deeply regrets any inconvenience caused by the diversion and consequent delay," the spokesperson added.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday released a statement on the diversion of Air India flight AI2455 Thiruvananthapuram - Delhi on August 10, following Congress MP KC Venugopal described it as "frighteningly close to tragedy.
"The DGCA said that the diversion was due to bad weather and the crew suspected a weather RADAR malfunction. The flight circled over Chennai to burn extra fuel and it aborted first landing attempt at Chennai as instructed by ATC after a departing Gulf Air flight reported debris on runway. Upon landing, the engineering inspection found no deficiency but as a precautionary measure, the radar transreceiver of the aircraft was replaced, the DGCA said in a statement today.
"On 10.08.2025, Air India A320 aircraft VT-TNL was scheduled to operate flight AI2455 (Thiruvananthapuram - Delhi) with a scheduled time of departure as 19:15 IST. Due to the late arrival of aircraft from Delhi (Weather Diversion+consequential+commercial), the aircraft departed Thiruvananthapuram at 20:04 IST, i.e. with a total delay of 49 minutes," the statement read.
"During the flight, the aircraft encountered moderate turbulent conditions. Crew observed that the weather information depicted on the weather RADAR was not accurate, suspecting weather RADAR malfunction diverted to Chennai," DGCA added further in his statement.
"To avoid an overweight landing and burn extra fuel, the aircraft with the ATC clearance orbited 25NM northeast of Chennai for 43 minutes (from 21:25IST to 22:08IST). After the aircraft was cleared for approach Runway 25 at Chennai, at 2219IST, the aircraft was instructed to carry out a missed approach by ATC as departing Gulf Air flight GFA053 Chennai-Bahrain) reported debris on the left side of the runway," read the lines of the statement.
As a precautionary measure, DGCA said that "Apron control carried out an inspection of the runway, and nothing was observed. The aircraft was given landing clearance and landed safely at 22:39 IST. During the engineering inspection, no deficiency was observed. However, as a precautionary measure, the WX radar transreceiver was replaced with a serviceable one." (ANI)