An Air India Express flight operating from Delhi to Ranchi was forced to return to the national capital shortly after takeoff on Monday evening following a suspected technical issue, the airline confirmed.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was originally scheduled to land at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport at 6:20 PM. However, soon after departure, the crew detected a possible technical irregularity and decided to divert back to Indira Gandhi International Airport as a precautionary measure.
Following a thorough inspection on the ground, the aircraft was cleared and resumed scheduled operations. “One of our flights returned to Delhi after takeoff due to a suspected technical issue. Post inspections and clearance, the aircraft continued scheduled operations,” an Air India Express spokesperson stated.
In a separate incident earlier in the day, Air India flight AI315 from Hong Kong to New Delhi — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — also returned to its origin due to a technical concern. The aircraft landed safely at Hong Kong International Airport around 1:15 p.m. local time after initially taking off at 12:20 p.m. and reaching an altitude of 22,000 feet before initiating its descent.
These back-to-back events follow a tragic accident involving another Air India flight last week, in which a Boeing aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad en route to London, killing 241 of the 242 people onboard.
These developments mark yet another challenge for Air India, which is in the midst of a fleet modernization effort, and for Boeing, which continues to grapple with global scrutiny over safety and reliability concerns.
