Kochi: An Air India flight from Kochi to Delhi was delayed for several hours on Sunday night after a technical fault forced the aircraft to abort take-off, creating anxiety among passengers before they were flown on a replacement aircraft.
Flight AI 504, scheduled to depart at 10.34 pm, was preparing for take-off when the crew detected an engine vibration problem and returned the aircraft to the parking bay.
Lok Sabha Member Hibi Eden, who was among the passengers, first shared details of the incident on Facebook, initially raising concerns that the plane might have skidded off the runway.
However, Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) clarified that the aircraft had not veered off the runway and that the issue was confined to an engine fault.
CIAL duty officials confirmed that Air India had informed them of a technical problem and subsequently decided to deploy a replacement aircraft. “A technical issue caused an Air India flight bound for Delhi to abort take-off. Air India informed CIAL that they were changing the aircraft. The expected new departure time was 01:00 hrs,” a CIAL official stated in a message at 11.45 pm.
The replacement aircraft, carrying 162 passengers, departed Kochi at 2.45 am on Monday and landed safely in Delhi at 5.33 am.