Dubai-bound Air Express flight returns to Mumbai due to glitch

A Dubai-bound Air Express flight from the city carrying over 180 persons on board landed back in Mumbai under emergency conditions on Sunday after being airborne for over an hour due to a "hydraulic" failure.

An Air India spokesperson said there was a "technical glitch", and after it was rectified, the plane resumed the journey around 8 pm, five hours after it returned to the Mumbai airport, as reported by news agency PTI. All passengers were safe.

"Full emergency was declared at 14.28 am for Air India Express flight AI 247 operating on the Mumbai-Dubai route following the pilot seeking a diversion back to the city due to hydraulic failure," said the source.

The Boeing 737 plane landed back safely at around 3, almost an hour after its take off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here, he said.

An Air India Express spokesperson said a "technical glitch" forced the aircraft to turn back to Mumbai. "Due to the technical glitch.... Noticed by the pilot-in-command, the flight crew decided to turn back the aircraft to Mumbai in view of passengers' safety," the spokesperson said. He said there were 177 passengers and six crew on board.

The aircraft arrived back safely at around 3 pm, he added. The B737 plane had departed from Mumbai around 2 pm. "The snag was later rectified by airline engineers and aircraft was declared airworthy.

The same plane with all 177 passengers resumed its journey at around 8 pm," the spokesperson said, adding that Air India served refreshments to the stranded passengers.