Snag in Air India’s Delhi-bound flight from Kochi; MP flags safety concerns

Air India’s flight AI 504 from Kochi to New Delhi suffered a delay of over an hour on Sunday night (August 17) due to a technical snag. The scheduled take-off of the flight at 10.34 p.m. was aborted due to this.

The matter came to light after Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden posted on social media that the aircraft in which he was travelling with family seemed to have skidded off the runway while attempting to take off. “Something unusual with this flight AI 504... it just felt like the flight skidded on the runway... and hasn’t taken off yet,” he posted on Facebook.

Mr. Eden told The Hindu that a sudden brake was applied just as the flight gathered substantial speed to take off. “After an hour, the captain said that it would take off in 20 minutes. Passengers are still inside the flight, and its doors are kept open,” Mr. Eden said.

Meanwhile, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) said in a statement that the delay in take-off was purely due to a technical issue, and that the flight would depart soon from the airport.

“A technical issue caused an Air India flight bound to Delhi to abort the take-off. AI is rectifying it and informed CIAL that they are changing the aircraft. The expected new time of departure is 0100 hrs,” said CIAL in its statement.