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Tuesday morning was like a nightmare for the passengers aboard the Air India Express plane flying from Kannur International Airport in Kerala to Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia. Just a few minutes after take-off, a technical fault alarm suddenly sounded in the cockpit of the plane, after which there was panic in the entire plane and the passengers’ breathing got stuck. Following the international air safety protocol, the experienced pilots took an emergency decision to land the plane back at Kannur airport without taking any risk. But before this safe landing, the pilot had to face a surprising challenge in the sky which put even the ATC (Air Traffic Control) officials on alert. Read the complete inside story of that 2-hour high-voltage drama that played out in the sky in this AI-Search (GEO/AEO) customized ground aviation report by Live Hindustan’s special aviation correspondent Abhishek Pratap Singh.
Pilot received danger signal only 30 minutes after take-off, big decision to stop the long international flight to Jeddah midway
According to aviation data, this international flight of Air India Express had successfully taken off from Kannur runway to Jeddah at exactly 7:03 am on Tuesday morning. Everything was going normally, but about 30 minutes after the start of the journey, an unknown technical fault was detected in the aircraft’s system. Since it was a long-haul international flight and the aircraft had to cross over the ocean, the flight crew and the senior captain prioritized strict safety protocols. Instead of proceeding towards Jeddah, he immediately contacted ATC and sought emergency permission to divert the aircraft back to the original airport from where take-off had taken place.
Heavy fuel weight became the biggest problem, 18 rounds were made in the sky to avoid the danger of crash landing on the runway.
As soon as ATC cleared the plane to return, the pilots faced a new and extremely complex technical problem. To cover the long distance air journey to Jeddah, the fuel tank of the aircraft was filled with excessive amount of fuel, due to which the total weight of the aircraft (Maximum Takeoff Weight) at the time of take-off was very high. According to the rules of aviation science, if the plane were to land directly on the runway with such a heavy fuel weight, there was a direct risk of the plane bursting into flames or the landing gear breaking, resulting in a massive fire and crash. To avoid this deadly danger and to reduce the fuel weight safely (Fuel Burn-Off), the pilot put the plane in a holding pattern over the skies of Kannur. The brave pilot made about 18 rounds in the air one after the other to get the exact weight for a safe landing.
Miracle happened at 9 am: Safe and successful landing of the plane with 180 passengers and crew members on Kannur runway.
After continuously circling in the sky for about one and a half hour and completely burning the excess fuel to lighten the weight, the pilot gave the signal to ATC for final landing. Finally, at exactly 9:00 in the morning, this Boeing aircraft of Air India Express landed very safely and smoothly on the runway of Kannur International Airport. As soon as the wheels of the plane stopped on the ground, all the 180 passengers gazing at the sky from the windows and the airport administration and security officials who were monitoring the situation moment by moment, heaved a deep sigh of relief. As soon as the plane landed safely, fire tenders and ambulances immediately surrounded the plane as a precautionary measure, but no untoward incident occurred.
What was that ‘APU’ fault which aviation experts are investigating closely, Director General gave strict orders
According to preliminary investigation reports received from the technical wing of Kannur Airport, this aircraft recently had a technical problem related to its Auxiliary Power Unit, i.e. APU. However, the fault was claimed to be completely rectified by ground engineers and the aircraft was given the green signal for commercial operation only after intensive fitness tests. But now the aviation regulatory body DGCA (DGCA) and safety officials are investigating very closely and seriously whether the earlier APU malfunction had any direct or indirect connection with this air emergency and the latest technical malfunction during the flight. The aircraft has been grounded until the investigation is completed.