Air India Express flight IX-2564 hovered over Jammu airport before returning to Delhi without landing, despite clear weather and runway, as the pilot failed to identify the landing area
The weather and the runway were clear, but it seems the pilot could not find the appropriate landing area, officials said. Representational Pic/File
An Air India Express flight operating from Delhi to Srinagar via Jammu had to return to its origin airport without landing at its destination on Monday afternoon, officials confirmed.
It was, however, not known immediately what led the flight to return to Delhi, the officials said, reported the PTI.
The officials said that the flight IX-2564 was supposed to land in Jammu around the afternoon before leaving for Srinagar, but it hovered over the Jammu airport for some time before its pilot decided to return to Delhi without landing.
The weather and the runway were clear, but it seems the pilot could not find the appropriate landing area, they said, according to the PTI.
An Air India Express Spokesperson said, “Our Delhi–Jammu flight returned to Delhi as a precautionary measure, following a suspected GPS interference incident.Subsequently an alternative flight was organised to connect guests to Jammu. We regret the inconvenience caused. Instances of GPS signal interference have been reported by operators while flying over certain sensitive regions.”
Air India temporarily suspends flights on three routes, cuts frequency on 19 sectors; full details here
Meanwhile, last week, Air India had announced another round of temporary reductions to its narrowbody flight operations. However, the airline said the reductions will affect less than 5 per cent of its overall domestic and short-haul international services.
The move comes days after the airline announced 15 per cent curbs on widebody international flights amid its ongoing efforts to “strengthen operational stability and reduce last-minute passenger inconvenience”.
The airline will temporarily suspend services on three routes and reduce frequencies on 19 routes across its narrowbody network until at least July 15, it informed in a press release.
Despite the curtailment, Air India will continue to operate nearly 600 daily flights with its narrowbody aircraft across 120 domestic and regional routes, the airline said in the release.
The airline has apologised to the passengers affected by the changes and said it is “proactively reaching out” to offer alternate flights, complimentary rescheduling or full refunds as per individual preferences.
The revised schedules are being updated on airindia.com, the airline’s mobile app, and via its contact centre.
“We remain committed to restoring our full schedule as soon as practicable, while at all times prioritising the safety of our passengers, crew and aircraft,” the statement added.
Whereas on Saturday, the Aviation safety regulator DGCA directed Air India to relieve three of its officials, including a divisional vice president, of all duties related to crew scheduling and rostering, sources confirmed.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in its order on June 20, also asked the Tata Group-owned airline to initiate internal disciplinary proceedings against these officials without delay, reported news agency PTI.
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