New Delhi: Panic gripped passengers on an Air India A350 flight (AI102) from New York’s JFK Airport to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Monday after a loud noise and abnormal vibrations after the aircraft passed through turbulence.
The flight was finally diverted to the Shannon Airport in Ireland, where technical staff are carrying out checks. All passengers have been deboarded safely.
According to a report by Republic TV, the aircraft passed through moderate to severe turbulence while flying over the North Atlantic (NAT) region.
The crew and passengers heard a loud noise after the turbulence and felt vibrations starting from the floor
It was reported that the vibration and sound gradually spread forward and upward and even the top cabin area. It seemed like it might be coming from the rear cargo compartment.
As the noise and vibration kept increasing, the pilots decided to divert to Shannon Airport, after coordinating with maintenance control, sources said.
Engineers are investigating the source of the noise and vibration. The flight will resume only after the aircraft is declared fit to fly.
In an unrelated incident, a tow truck caught fire at the IGI Airport in Delhi on Friday night while pushing back a loaded cargo plane. Nobody was injured in the incident, but the vehicle suffered damage.
“The tow truck of Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd was assisting in the pushback of an Etihad flight loaded with cargo, which was on its way to Doha, when the incident occurred late on Friday night. For reasons unknown, the truck caught fire. It was doused within ten minutes by the fire service,” an airport official was reported as saying by The New Indian Express.
Pushback is the process deployed for departing flights, whereby a specialised tow tractor guides a plane backwards from the parking bay to the taxiway. This is essential as commercial flights cannot move in the reverse direction.
