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Air India debunks Congress leader KC Venugopal’s ‘harrowing journey’ claim over Air India flight to Delhi

Sudarshan Vahini

An Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai following a suspected technical issue and weather conditions along the route on Sunday, August 10.

A political storm has erupted over the incident after Congress leader KC Venugopal, who was onboard the flight, claimed that he and other MPs onboard experienced a “harrowing journey”. However, the Congress leader got fact-checked by Air India.

Vengugopal said that while he, along with multiple other MPs, experienced a “harrowing journey” after AI 2455 flight from Trivandrum to Delhi experienced turbulence, leading to a precautionary landing in Chennai. He said in a post on X that while a landing was attempted for the first time, another aircraft was already present at the same spot, and the pilot’s “quick decision” to pull up at the last second saved the passengers. 

“Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi – carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers – came frighteningly close to tragedy today. 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. For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt – 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,” Venugopal said.

“The flight landed safely on the second attempt. We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck. I urge @DGCAIndia and  @MoCA_GoI to investigate this incident urgently, fix accountability, and ensure such lapses never happen again,” he added.

Responding to the claims made by KC Venugopal, Air India said that no aircraft was present on the runway during that time, that standard protocols were followed, and diversion being done as a precautionary measures and their pilots are well trained to handle such situations. 

“Dear Mr Venugopal, 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. Our pilots are well-trained to handle such situations, and in this case, they followed standard procedures throughout the flight. We understand that such an experience can be unsettling and regret the inconvenience the diversion may have caused to you. However, safety is always our priority. Thank you for your understanding,” Air India replied under KC Venugopal’s X post. 

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday released a statement on the diversion of Air India flight and said that the diversion was due to bad weather and the crew suspected a weather RADAR malfunction. The flight circled over Chennai to burn extra fuel and it aborted first landing attempt at Chennai as instructed by ATC after a departing Gulf Air flight reported debris on runway. 

Upon landing, the engineering inspection found no deficiency but as a precautionary measure, the radar transreceiver of the aircraft was replaced, the DGCA said in a statement today. 

“On 10.08.2025, Air India A320 aircraft VT-TNL was scheduled to operate flight AI2455 (Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi) with a scheduled time of departure as 19:15 IST. Due to the late arrival of aircraft from Delhi (Weather Diversion +consequential+commercial), the aircraft departed Thiruvananthapuram at 20:04 IST, i.e. with a total delay of 49 minutes,” the statement read.

“Crew observed that the weather information depicted on the weather RADAR was not accurate, suspecting weather RADAR malfunction diverted to Chennai,” DGCA added further in its statement. 

“To avoid an overweight landing and burn extra fuel, the aircraft with the ATC clearance orbited 25NM northeast of Chennai for 43 minutes (from 21:25IST to 22:08IST). After the aircraft was cleared for approach Runway 25 at Chennai, at 2219IST, the aircraft was instructed to carry out a missed approach by ATC as departing Gulf Air flight GFA053 Chennai -Bahrain reported debris on the left side of the runway,” read the lines of the statement.

As a precautionary measure, DGCA said that “Apron control carried out an inspection of the runway, and nothing was observed. The aircraft was given landing clearance and landed safely at 22:39 IST. During the engineering inspection, no deficiency was observed. However, as a precautionary measure, the WX radar transreceiver was replaced with a serviceable one.”

DGCA statement

Despite the authorities clarifying the facts of the incident, Congress leader KC Venugopal remains adamant and even went on to accuse Air India of lying. “There should be an inquiry into the issue. An unfortunate incident happened yesterday. It was announced by the pilot that there was another aircraft on the runway when we were going to land. I spoke to DGCA as well. Let them have an inquiry. Air India is lying…” he said.

Meawnhile, BJP leader Amit Malviya said that if venugopal’s claims are proven false, he should be put on a no-fly list. 

“This is extremely serious. If senior Congress leader KC Venugopal claims an Air India flight had to abort landing in Chennai because another aircraft was on the runway and the airline immediately contradicts him, then one of them is misrepresenting facts. Aviation safety is paramount, and social media posts from supposedly responsible people cannot go unscrutinised. If the allegation is true, Chennai ATC and Air India have much to answer for. If not, Mr Venugopal should face consequences, including being put on a no-fly list for spreading falsehoods,” Malviya wrote on X.



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