Air India TVM–Delhi flight with 160 on board, including 4 Kerala MPs, diverted to Chennai

Thiruvananthapuram: An Air India flight travelling from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai on Sunday evening due to a technical issue, the airline said.

The flight AI2455, operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, was airborne for more than two hours, according to information available on the flight tracking website Flightradar24.com. “The flight crew of AI2455 operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on 10 August made a precautionary diversion to Chennai due to a suspected technical issue and given the weather conditions en route,” the airline said in a statement.

Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi – carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers – came frighteningly close to tragedy today.

What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented…

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 10, 2025

Air India said the flight landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft will undergo necessary checks. Alternate arrangements were made for passengers to continue to their destination.

There were 160 passengers on board the plane, including four MPs from Kerala- Adoor Prakash, Kodikunnil Suresh, K C Venugopal, and K Radhakrishnan— and one MP from Tamil Nadu. They were travelling to Delhi to attend the Parliament session.

K C Venugopal said that the passengers were saved due to the timely intervention by the pilot. The aircraft, which was hit by turbulence shortly after takeoff, was diverted to Chennai an hour later, he said. However, the first attempt ot land could have ended in a major disaster as another aircraft was 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,”  the AICC general secretary said on a post on X. 

In recent weeks, there have been instances of some of Air India’s aircraft facing technical snags.

Venugopal urged the Director General of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to investigate the incident to ensure the safety of passengers. “We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck,” he added. 

The flight took off a little past 8 pm from Thiruvananthapuram and landed in Chennai at around 10.35 pm, as per information from Flightradar24.com.

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