Congress MP KC Venugopal claimed that passengers on board Air India flight AI 2455 from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi narrowly avoided tragedy on Sunday after the aircraft was diverted to Chennai following a reported technical glitch. He said the incident involved another aircraft entering the runway as their plane attempted to land.
Venugopal, who was travelling on the flight along with four other Members of Parliament — Kodikkunil Suresh, Adoor Prakash, K Radhakrishnan, and Robert Bruce — described the journey as harrowing. He said the passengers were saved “by sheer luck and the skill of the pilots” after the diversion.
“What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence. About an hour later, the captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai,” Venugopal wrote on X.
He said the aircraft circled the airport for nearly two hours awaiting clearance to land, until “a heart-stopping moment” during the first attempt, when another aircraft was reportedly 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,” he said.
Air India, however, denied any runway intrusion. Responding to Venugopal’s post, the airline said that Chennai Air Traffic Control had instructed a go-around during the first landing attempt, but not due to another aircraft being present on the runway.
“We would like to clarify that the diversion to Chennai was precautionary due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions. A go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing at Chennai airport, not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway,” the airline said in a statement.
It added that the flight landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft will undergo the required inspections.
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