Hyderabad-Dubai Air India flight lands in city after snag

The airport declared full emergency for the arrival of the flight and kept its emergency teams, including the fire brigade personnel, ready.

Mumbai: A Dubai-bound Air India flight from Hyderabad made an emergency landing at Mumbai airport on Saturday after a snag was reported in one of its three hydraulic systems. All passengers were reported to be safe.

An Air India spokesperson said, “Hyderabad-Dubai Ai 951 has diverted to Mumbai due to technical issue. Air India accords top priority to safety and that’s why the aircraft landed for engineering checks. The flight landed safely at Mumbai with 143 passengers on board. Alternate aircraft is being arranged, and the passengers will continue their journey.” (AP)

AI951 departed from Hyderabad international airport around 7.45 pm and was scheduled to reach Dubai after a three-and-half-hour flight. However, the pilots decided to divert to Mumbai airport. The airport declared full emergency for the arrival of the flight and kept its emergency teams, including the fire brigade personnel, ready.

Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar said, “Air India A320 aircraft VT-EXV operating AI-951 [Hyderabad-Dubai] was diverted to Mumbai due to loss of yellow hydraulic system. The aircraft landed safely and is being towed to the bay.”

A senior Air India pilot said, “The aircraft has three hydraulic systems, and a glitch in one system does not cause a major issue to the flight. The flight can continue. But why the pilots decided to divert can only be known once the maintenance teams look at the issue.”

An Air India spokesperson said, “Hyderabad-Dubai Ai 951 has diverted to Mumbai due to technical issue. Air India accords top priority to safety and that’s why the aircraft landed for engineering checks. The flight landed safely at Mumbai with 143 passengers on board. Alternate aircraft is being arranged, and the passengers will continue their journey.”

The flight data chart on flightradar.24, a global live flight monitoring website, showed that after departure from Hyderabad, AI 951 climbed to 35,925 feet and had a ground speed of 423 kt around 28 minutes into the flight. It climbed further to 36,000 ft at a speed of 440 kt after which it slowed the speed to 419 kt and then it started losing the altitude sharply over the next few minutes to touch 21,225 ft further to 16,000 ft. It circled over Mahad in Konkan for close to 10 minutes before decided to divert to Mumbai.