Bangkok-bound Air India flight 'held back' at Mumbai airport for over 5 hours
Mumbai (PTI): A Bangkok-bound Air India flight from the city was held back for over five hours on June 25, after some hay was found stuck in one of the aircraft's wings, the airline has said.
This was immediately attended to, and the aircraft was subsequently cleared for operation, Air India said in a statement.
The Tata Group-run airline did not share other key details such as the number of passengers and crew on board, the type of aircraft, the scheduled time of departure and for how long the passengers remained stranded at the Mumbai airport.
However, according to flight tracking website flightradar24.com, the flight AI 2354, operated by an Airbus A320Neo plane, was scheduled to depart from Mumbai at 7.45 am. However, it departed after a delay of over five hours -- around 1 pm.
"AI2354 scheduled to operate from Mumbai to Bangkok on 25 June 2025 was held back as some hay was found stuck below the left wing of the operating aircraft," Air India said in a statement on Friday.
This was immediately attended to, and the aircraft was subsequently cleared for operation, the airline said, adding that the source of the hay (getting below the wing)could not be identified.
It also said as the flight crew came under the regulatory flight duty time limitations, the flight could not depart immediately.
The service provider handling the aircraft at Mumbai airport has been instructed to investigate the matter, which has been duly reported to the safety regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air India said in the statement.
The passengers were disembarked and served refreshments, and the flight departed as soon as a fresh set of flight crew reported, the airline added.
The incident came days after the DGCA detected multiple violations related to airlines, airports, aircraft maintenance works, and repeated defects in multiple cases during its surveillance at major airports, an exercise carried out in less than two weeks after the June 12 Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad.
Without disclosing names of the airlines, airports and other entities in relation to the defects, the regulator had on Tuesday said surveillance covered multiple critical areas such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, Air Traffic Control (ATC), Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations.
The surveillance was done last week and the DGCA is stepping up efforts to strength the overall safety oversight of the aviation ecosystem.
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Three youths bludgeon 40-year-old man to death with brick in Baghpat
Baghpat (UP) (PTI): Police said on Saturday that three youths allegedly bludgeoned a man to death with a brick in Meetli village here following a late-night beer party.
Preliminary investigations suggest the dispute arose from a suspected illicit relationship, said police, adding that the three accused have been detained.
Police received information on Saturday morning that the body of Sonu (40), a resident of Dola village, was lying in the forest near Meetli village.
There were visible signs of severe head injuries on his body, and bottles of liquor and beer were also recovered from the crime scene, leading to the suspicion that a drinking party had taken place there before the incident, police said.
Superintendent of Police Suraj Kumar Rai said police registered a case based on the written complaint submitted by the family members.
Police sent the body for a postmortem.
According to the deceased's family members, two youngsters from the same village took him away at 8:00 pm on Friday, and he never returned home.
They said when they tried to contact him via phone, his mobile number was switched off.
The deceased worked as a street food vendor in the village and is survived by his wife, two sons, and two daughters.
