An Air India Express flight from Chennai to Bengaluru experienced a sudden technical snag while preparing to take-off on Sunday morning with 104 passengers and 5 crew members on board, people aware of the matter said.
After the pilot detected a critical snag while still taxiing, the take-off was aborted. “The plane went back to its parking bay and was grounded for an extensive inspection,” an airport official said. The passengers were seated inside the plane during the repair process and after the technical issue was resolved the flight was cleared for take-off.
The technical problem has not been made clear. The inspection and repair work by engineers of the airline as well as airport authorities went on for more than an hour. The flight that was originally scheduled to depart at 10.45 am took off only around 12 noon. The passengers and crew members abroad were safe, officials said.
Earlier this month, an Air India flight from Colombo to Chennai carrying 158 passengers suffered a bird hit. It was detected after it touched down at the airport in Chennai. That aircraft too was grounded for checks by Air India engineers and airport officials.