'Saved by luck, skill': K C Venugopal alleges near-miss on Air India flight, demands DGCA probe

An Air India flight from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai in the late hours on Sunday, August 10, after a technical issue was reported.

Congress leader Lok Sabha MP from Alappuzha, K C Venugopal, claimed on Monday that an Air India flight carrying him and several other MPs narrowly avoided tragedy during a journey from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi.

In a post on X, Venugopal said flight AI 2455, which was already delayed at departure, encountered severe turbulence shortly after take-off. About an hour later, the captain reported a flight signal fault and diverted the aircraft to Chennai. 

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According to the MP, the plane circled the airport for nearly two hours before a “heart-stopping” first landing 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,” Venugopal wrote, adding that “passenger safety cannot depend on luck” and urging the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to investigate the incident, fix accountability, and prevent such lapses in the future.