Thiruvananthapuram-Sharjah Air India Express flight returns due to technical glitch

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 13: A Sharjah bound Air India Express flight which took off from Thiruvananthapuram returned back to the airport shortly after taking off due to a technical issue.

The plane, which also had a crew of six, landed safely at Thiruvananthapuram airport and another flight was arranged for the passengers, including five infants, to travel to Sharjah, an Air India Express (AIE) spokesperson told PTI.

An official from the airport said that the incident occurred around 7 am. Upon taking off, the pilots sensed the technical glitch just after about 30 minutes after taking off and decided to turn back to Thiruvananthapuram.

Another flight was arranged for the passengers.

Pilot's non-adherence to SOP probable cause for Kozhikode plane crash: AAIB report

According to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe report, the probable cause of the Air India plane crash at Kozhikode airport last year was non-adherence to standard operating procedure by the pilot flying the aircraft

"The probable cause of the accident was the non adherence to standard operating procedures by the pilot flying, wherein, he continued an unstabilized approach and landed beyond the touchdown zone, half way down the runway, in spite of 'Go Around' call by [the] Pilot Monitoring which warranted a mandatory 'Go Around' and the failure of the Pilot Monitoring to take over controls and execute a 'Go Around'," said the 257-page report by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau submitted on Saturday.

The crash, involving a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, killed 21 people, including the two pilots, and injured several others. While trying to land at the airport amid rain, the aircraft overshot the runway and later broke into pieces. There were 190 people onboard when the crash happened on August 7, 2020. The two pilots who died in the accident that happened at the airport in Kerala were Deepak V Sathe and Akhilesh Kumar.

(PTI)