Air India's San Francisco-Mumbai Flight Suffers Technical Snag, Passengers Deplaned In Kolkata | A Look At Recent Incidents

Incidents of technical glitches in Air India flights continue to hit headlines as another Mumbai-bound Air India flight from San Francisco suffered a technical snag in one of its engines on Tuesday, leading to the deplaning of passengers during a scheduled halt at Kolkata airport.

Air India's Flight AI180, a Boeing 777-200LR, arrived on time at the airport, but the technical snag in the left engine resulted in the takeoff getting delayed, as per PTI. At about 5:20 am, an announcement was made in the aircraft asking all the passengers to deplane. The captain of the plane told the passengers that the decision was made in the interest of flight safety.

On Monday, similar incidents were reported on Air India flights in Delhi and Hong Kong. The repeated incidents of technical challenges are surfacing frequently on the days following the devastating aviation disaster involving Air India's London-bound flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which crashed soon after takeoff from Gujarat's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on June 12 and killed everyone on board, except one.

The flight carrying 232 passengers and 12 crew members was en route to London Gatwick Airport. As per reports, the plane was being flown by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar.

Flights Return Due To Technical Snags, Bomb Threats: Latest Cases

Air India Flight Returns To Delhi IGI Airport

On Monday, June 16, the pilot of a domestic flight of the same airline carrying 168 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing at Delhi as the aircraft developed a technical snag immediately after take-off from Delhi to Vadodara on Sunday evening.

On Sunday evening, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, Air India's AI 819, an A321neo, had a delayed departure of 6:51 p.m. from Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) instead of the scheduled departure of 6:25 p.m.

The flight returned to IGI by 7:20 p.m. after the captain suspected technical glitches, and the passengers were given rescheduling options as well.

As per a report by The Indian Express, airline sources told, "The flight had taken off from IGI when the captain suspected an issue with the landing gear within a few minutes of being airborne. As a matter of abundant caution, he decided to return."

"Multiple safety checks were carried out as soon as it returned. Everything was found to be alright," the source added.

Lufthansa Flight Returns To Base After Bomb Threat Mail

In a separate incident, a Hyderabad-bound Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt was forced to return to its base mid-air on Sunday, after passengers were told it was not permitted to land in India as Hyderabad airport received a bomb threat mail involving the mentioned aircraft.

"Out of an abundance of caution, Lufthansa flight LH752 from Frankfurt to Hyderabad returned to its point of departure after authorities were made aware of a bomb threat posted on social media," Lufthansa spokesperson said in the statement.

The announcement came after a bomb threat email targeting Lufthansa flight LH 752 was received at the Hyderabad airport at 6:01 pm on 15th June 2025. It has been reported that a bomb threat assessment committee was formed, and all procedures were followed as per SOP.

Air India Flight Returns To Hong Kong Mid-Air After Suspected Technical Snag

An Air India Dreamliner en route from Hong Kong to Delhi was forced to return shortly after takeoff due to a suspected technical issue, officials confirmed on Monday.

Flight AI315, operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, departed Hong Kong at 12:16 PM local time, according to data from Flightradar24. However, just over an hour into the journey, the pilot reported a potential technical malfunction and decided to turn the aircraft back as a safety precaution.

The flight landed safely back in Hong Kong, and no injuries have been reported. The precise nature of the suspected issue remains unclear. The aircraft is currently undergoing detailed inspection and technical evaluation.