Back-to-back snags force 2 Air India flights to make emergency landing within 24 hours

Air India faced a disconcerting 24 hours with two separate international and domestic flights being forced to divert due to technical issues. The latest incident involved a domestic Air India A320 flight, AI2487, traveling from Delhi (DEL) to Bengaluru (BLR), which was forced to execute an emergency landing at Raja Bhoj Airport in Bhopal late Monday night after pilots received a critical smoke warning from both cargo compartments.

The flight, carrying 172 passengers, landed safely at around 9 PM IST. The immediate declaration of a full emergency on the ground ensured a swift response from Air Traffic Control and the Airport Fire Services. Although initial reports suggested a smoke warning, an airport official later confirmed that the crew reported the warning had cleared and all aircraft systems were normal shortly before landing. The aircraft is now undergoing extensive precautionary checks by Air India engineers to diagnose the original "technical snag" that triggered the alert.

This domestic scare comes on the heels of another significant disruption involving the airline’s long-haul international service. Just hours earlier, Air India flight AI174, a Boeing 777 carrying 228 passengers from San Francisco to Delhi, had to make a precautionary landing in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. This diversion was also necessitated by the flight crew suspecting a technical issue mid-route over the Pacific.

In Ulaanbaatar, the passengers were safely disembarked, cleared through immigration, and provided with hotel accommodations and assistance with the help of local partners and authorities. Air India is actively working on making alternative arrangements, likely by dispatching a relief aircraft, to transport the 228 passengers from the Mongolian capital to Delhi, thus minimizing the delay on the lengthy international journey.