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Delhi–Milan flight aborted before take-off: No end to AI's hiccups

Since the tragic Ahmedabad crash, Air India is facing frequent flight delays, diversions, cancellations and turnbacks as there is heightened scrutiny of the airline’s fleet maintenance protocols.

NEW DELHI, Aug 6: In yet another operational setback for Air India, flight AI137 from Delhi to Milan was abruptly cancelled moments before take-off on Tuesday due to a technical snag in the aircraft.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was scheduled to take off at 1:50 pm from Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. There were around 150 passengers.

The cancellation triggered a ripple effect, with the return leg from Milan also scrapped.

In a statement, the airline said, "flight AI137 scheduled to operate from Delhi to Milan on 5 August has been cancelled due to a maintenance task identified prior to departure which required additional time for rectification."

Hotel accommodations were arranged for the passengers and were also offered either full refunds or complimentary rescheduling based on their preferences. Air India also confirmed that alternative flights to Milan were being organized to clear the backlog, including a special operation on Wednesday, despite the route typically not operating that day.

Air India operates four weekly flights on the Delhi–Milan route, with no scheduled service on Wednesdays. The airline has confirmed that it will operate a special flight on August 6 to accommodate the affected passengers.

The incident adds to a growing list of operational hiccups faced by the airline in recent weeks. Multiple Air India and Air India Express flights have been delayed, diverted, cancelled, turned back due to technical issues, including a Jaipur–Mumbai flight that returned to Jaipur mid-air, and a Bhubaneswar–Delhi service cancelled due to high cabin temperature.

High cabin temperature

BHUBANESWAR: The Delhi-bound Air India flight AI500 from Bhubaneswar was cancelled on Sunday due to "high temperature" in the aircraft cabin just before departure. This was the second incident an Air India flight facing a problem same day.

BENGALURU: Air India Express flight from Bengaluru to Kolkata (IX2718) returned to Bengaluru due to a technical malfunction on Sunday. The airline circled to reduce fuel before a safe landing.

JAIPUR: Air India flight AI612, Jaipur to Mumbai, returned to Jaipur 18 minutes after takeoff due to a “suspected technical issue” on July 25. The decision was made as a precautionary measure, and post-landing checks confirmed it was a false alarm. This comes just two days after a Doha-bound Air India Express flight was forced to return to Calicut International Airport on Wednesday morning, approximately two hours after its departure, owing to a technical fault in the aircraft’s cabin AC.

NEW DELHI: The Air India flight AI2017, scheduled to fly from Delhi to London last Thursday, aborted the takeoff and returned to the bay following a suspected technical issue. According to a statement from Air India, the pilots discontinued the take-off run in accordance with standard operating procedures.

It said, "Flight AI2017 operating from Delhi to London on 31 July returned to bay due to a suspected technical issue. The cockpit crew decided to discontinue the take-off run following standard operating procedures and brought the aircraft back for precautionary checks. An alternative aircraft is being deployed to fly the passengers to London at the earliest."

NEW DELHI: A scheduled flight by Air India Express (IX) from Delhi (DEL) to Mumbai (BOM) aborted takeoff on July 23 due to a minor technical snag. There were 160 passengers onboard.

Air India's operational snags

In recent weeks, Air India has faced several flight cancellations, delays, diversions and turnbacks due to technical problems with aircraft.

These flight disruptions come amid Air India's phased restoration of international services following the tragic AI171 crash in June. The airline is conducting extensive safety checks and aims for full resumption by October 1.

There is heightened scrutiny of the airline’s fleet maintenance protocols following the crash, which claimed 260 lives.

While the airline has reiterated its commitment to passenger safety, the frequency of such incidents has raised concerns among aviation experts and frequent flyers. “The Boeing 787 is a sophisticated aircraft, but it demands rigorous and timely maintenance. A last-minute snag points to either a lapse in routine checks or an emergent fault that wasn’t previously flagged,” said a senior aviation analyst.

As Air India continues its phased restoration of international services post-AI171, the carrier faces mounting pressure to ensure fleet reliability and rebuild passenger trust. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is monitoring the situation closely.

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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.

The irony lies in her illustration of her experiences in the country she has been living in for the last four years. What it really is!

ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!

The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.

  • The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
  • The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
  • The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)

A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924) (Today's headlines )

Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.

PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.

Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people. (Today's headlines )

"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...

Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.

Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.

The committee headed by justice Kurian Joseph will study Centre-State relations and make proposals to ensure foolproof separation of powers.

"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.

Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.

ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!

What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America! (Today's headlines )

PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).

In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.

THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.

The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.

Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See: New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)

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