NEW DELHI, India — An Air India flight bound for London Heathrow was forced to return to Delhi on Thursday after a suspected technical issue was detected mid-flight, the airline said.
Flight AI111 departed Delhi at around 6 a.m. and remained airborne for nearly seven hours before turning back. The aircraft landed safely in the national capital at approximately 12:30 p.m.
An Air India spokesperson said the decision to return was taken as a precaution after a potential technical problem was identified during the journey, emphasizing that passenger safety remained the airline’s top priority.
The aircraft landed safely in accordance with the airline’s safety protocols and is now undergoing detailed technical inspections. Further decisions will be made once those checks are complete.
Air India expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and said it is working to ensure affected passengers can continue their journey to London as soon as possible.
Details about the exact nature of the issue were not immediately available.
The incident follows a separate disruption last week involving another Air India flight from Delhi to Vancouver. That flight returned to Delhi after about nine hours in the air due to a regulatory issue involving the aircraft type.
Flight AI185, which departed on March 20 using a Boeing 777-200LR, was unable to continue because Canadian authorities had only approved Air India’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for that route. (Source: IANS)
