Congress MP K C Venugopal Says Flight Came 'Frighteningly Close To Tragedy'; Air India Calls It Snag

Chennai: Congress MP from Kerala K C Venugopal on Sunday midnight said an Air India flight (AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi) on which he, several MPs and many passengers were on board “came frighteningly close to tragedy” before circling over the Chennai airport for two hours and safely landing. 

Congress MP K C Venugopal's Tweet

The incident happened late Sunday night, and the MP had posted about it on X around midnight. “What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence. About an hour later, the Captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai. For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt - another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway. In that split second, the Captain’s quick decision to pull up saved every life on board. The flight landed safely on the second attempt. We were saved by skill and luck,” the Congress leader said.

He, however, added that passenger safety cannot depend on luck and urged the DGCA and Ministry of Civil Aviation to investigate the incident urgently and fix accountability.

Responding to him, Air India clarified that the diversion of AI 2455 to Chennai was a precautionary measure due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions. The flight had about 180 passengers and had departed from Thiruvananthapuram around 8 pm. 

“A go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing at Chennai airport, not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway. Our pilots are well-trained to handle such situations, and in this case, they followed standard procedures throughout the flight,” the airline said.