TRICHY: Tension prevailed for a while at Trichy international airport as a Dubai-bound Air India Express flight that took off from the airport here made an emergency landing on Monday evening. The Air India Express flight was supposed to depart from Trichy airport as per the flight schedule by 12.45 pm. However, the flight’s departure was delayed, and the aircraft took off only by 1.55 pm. Around 160 passengers were said to be on board the aircraft. Soon after the take-off, the flight crew noticed a technical snag in the aircraft. For about two hours, the flight was going around the air space over Trichy and Pudukottai to dump fuel before making an emergency landing in Trichy. While the normal duration of the air journey between Trichy and Dubai is four hours and 45 minutes, relatives and friends of the passengers awaiting the flight’s arrival at Dubai airport used online flight tracking platforms. Only then, they realised that the aircraft had not left Trichy. Meanwhile, a section of passengers onboard who are relatives of the former Nagapattinam MLA Thamimum Ansari informed the latter about the flight doing rounds due to a technical snag. At 3.53pm, the Air India Express flight, a narrow body Boeing 738 aircraft, made an emergency landing at Trichy airport. Airport sources said that alternative arrangements were in place to transport passengers to Dubai.
