Anxious moments for AI Express passengers

Air India Express flights between Abu Dhabi and Kochi in the southern state of Kerala, were delayed for hours in both directions, according to a report in Khaleej Times.

Passengers on board experienced some anxious moments as both the flights (IX419 and IX452) returned to the respective airports after they developed technical snags.

The flight IX 419, which was to take off from Kochi at 9.25pm (local time) on Saturday (July 18) took off only at 10pm, as it developed technical problems.

"And after an hour, the pilot announced that he was taking the flight back to Kochi as the aircraft had some technical problem. Also there was lot of turbulence during the flight,' said Ajith Kumar, who was on board the flight."

"The worst scene was that we could see huge balls of fire on the wings on both sides as the pilot announced that he was burning off the fuel to reduce the weight for a smooth landing. It took over an hour to land the flight back in Kochi, and we had to sit with seat belts on throughout the two-hour flight," Kumar added.

The aircraft returned in Kochi at 12 midnight and passengers shifted to a hotel. Finally after repairs, the flight took off at 4pm on Sunday (July 19) and reached Abu Dhabi at 6pm (local time).

Meanwhile, passengers who were to fly from Abu Dhabi to Kochi on the return flight IX452 at 12.45am on Sunday had completed all formalities including immigration checks, when they were sent back home.

They were informed after some time that the flight would take off at 1pm on Sunday. But it was soon rescheduled to 10pm.

Finally, passengers boarded the flight at 10.30pm.

To the dismay of passengers, within an hour after the aircraft took off, the captain announced that the flight had developed some technical snags and was returning to Abu Dhabi.

"But soon, another announcement was made that the plane was being flown to Muscat as the weather en route to Abu Dhabi was bad," said Sathi Shaji, a passenger on the flight.

According to the latest information, the flight finally left from Muscat and landed in Kochi on Monday evening.

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