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Air India Express Flight Lands Safely in Trichy After Mid-Air Scare
Tiruchirappalli: An Air India Express flight, AXB 613, heading to Sharjah with 144 passengers on board, experienced a hydraulic failure shortly after taking off from Tiruchirappalli airport in Tamil Nadu on Thursday evening.
Despite the mid-air emergency, the aircraft landed safely after being airborne for over two and a half hours.
The flight, which departed at 5:40 pm, was initially asked to return to Tiruchirappalli airport following the technical snag. However, to avoid the risk of landing with full fuel tanks, the pilots maintained a holding pattern at a safe distance from the airport, burning excess fuel before attempting a landing.
At around 8:15 pm, the aircraft successfully landed, prompting applause and cheers from the relieved passengers. Prior to landing, Tiruchirappalli airport had initiated emergency protocols, keeping several ambulances on standby in anticipation of a possible emergency landing. Reports indicated concerns about the landing gear, but the plane touched down with the landing gear properly engaged, avoiding a belly landing.
The pilot remained in constant communication with Air Traffic Control throughout the incident and was given clearance for a potential emergency landing if necessary. Fortunately, a normal landing was achieved without further complications.
Air India Express has since launched an internal investigation to identify the cause of the hydraulic failure. Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 confirmed that the plane remained in a holding pattern over the Tiruchirappalli area for nearly two hours before making its safe landing.
