Kochi-Delhi Air India flight aborts takeoff, MPs on board share ordeal: ‘Felt like flight skid on runway’

An Air India flight AI 504, scheduled to fly from Kochi to Delhi in the early hours of Monday, faced an unexpected delay. According to officials, the aircraft aborted the takeoff due to a technical issue and returned to the bay.

The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) said the revised time of departure was 1:00 am on Monday.

In a statement, the CIAL said, “A technical issue caused an Air India flight bound for Delhi to abort the takeoff. Air India is rectifying it and has informed Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) that they are changing the aircraft. The expected new time of departure is 0100 hrs.”

‘Felt like flight skid on runway’

The incident came to light after Congress MP Hibi Eden, who was on board the flight, posted on social media that the aircraft seemed to have skidded on the runway.

“Something unusual with this flight AI 504….it just felt like the flight skid on the runway….and hasn’t taken off yet….” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Mather, who was also on board, said the pilot later announced that the aircraft could not be used for travel.

“Now pilot announced…this aircraft cannot be used for travel. So, will be shifting passengers to another aircraft and approx by 1 am,” Mather was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

Air India reacts

An Air India spokesperson said that flight AI504 operating from Kochi to Delhi on 17 August has been rescheduled to depart later this evening, necessitated by a technical issue detected during the take-off roll.

“The cockpit crew decided to discontinue the take-off run, following Standard Operating Procedures and brought the aircraft back to bay for maintenance checks,” the statement read.

It added, “An alternative aircraft is being deployed to operate the flight. All passengers have disembarked and our ground colleagues in Kochi are extending support to them.”

The airline regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to this “unforeseen situation”.

“At Air India, the safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew remain our top priority,” the airline said.

Milan-Delhi flight cancelled

Earlier on August 16, Flight AI138 — operating from Milan to Delhi — was cancelled due to a maintenance task identified during pushback, and subsequently due to the crew coming under the mandatory flight duty time limitation norms.

“Air India sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers due to this unforeseen cancellation,” an airline spokesperson said.

“Our ground team in Milan extended immediate assistance to all affected passengers, providing hotel accommodation and offering full refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling as opted by the passengers,” the spokesperson added.

“Alternative arrangements are being made to fly the passengers to their destination at the earliest. At Air India, the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain top priority,” the Air India spokesperson said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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