Air India plane forced to turn around mid-flight just days after crash killed at least 270 people
An Air India plane was forced to return mid-flight following a suspected technical issue just days after the horror crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday (June 12).
Bound for London Gatwick, the Air India Flight AI171 crashed just minutes after takeoff. The flight was carrying 242 people on board and of these, '169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals', according to the company in a statement.
The crash resulted in the deaths of 241 people onboard, leaving one passenger, 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, as the sole survivor.
According to doctors in India, at least 270 bodies have been recovered from the wreck site, with the BBC reporting that officials are attempting to establish how many casualties occurred on the ground as they seek to confirm the victim's identities.
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On Monday (June 16), another Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner - the same type of aircraft involved in last week's tragedy - was forced to return to Hong Kong just an hour after it took off en route to New Delhi after a suspected technical issue was raised by the pilot.
It's not yet known what caused the suspected technical issue, but the plane swiftly headed back to Hong Kong, according to tracking data on Flightradar24.
An Air India spokesperson told UNILAD: "AI315 operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on 16 June 2025 air-returned to Hong Kong shortly after take off due to a technical issue. The flight landed safely at Hong Kong and is undergoing checks as a matter of abundant precaution.
"Alternative arrangements have been planned to fly the passengers to their destination Delhi at the earliest. We are providing all necessary on-ground assistance to the passengers to minimise the inconvenience caused by this unforeseen disruption."
Reuters further reports the plane is now undergoing checks now it's safely on the ground.
The outlet states that as per air traffic control monitoring website LiveATC.net, one of the pilots raised concerns around 15 minutes into the flight to the Indian capital.
The pilot allegedly told air traffic control that 'for technical reasons, sir, we would like to stay closer to Hong Kong, maybe we will come back and land back into Hong Kong once we sort out the problem'.
"We don't want to continue further," the pilot also said (via NBC News).
A spokesperson for Airport Authority Hong Kong confirmed Flight AI315 took off from Hong Kong at around 12:20pm local time, before landing 'safely at around 1:15pm', adding that the airport operations weren't affected.
An investigation into last week's plane tragedy is underway, as one veteran pilot has claimed such a crash was inevitable.
Ross Aimer, who worked for top airlines including United Airlines for 40 years, told The Express that he's not 'surprised' by the tragedy, saying: "I'm shocked, but knowing some of the issues with the 787, I'm not that surprised. It was bound to happen."
The pilot said that it's 'way too early to speculate' based on this information.
"There's no way we know enough to even think about what may have gone wrong, but I saw the initial video of the takeoff," he continued.
"The aircraft was full of fuel and bound to Gatwick. It's a tragedy, but we have no idea what may have caused the airplane to crash.
Topics: Air India, Travel, News, World News
Callum Jones