Air India Delhi-Washington flight cancelled after Vienna stopover
The Air India flight AI103 remained grounded due to maintenance; another Washington-Delhi flight was also cancelled
A Washington-bound Air India flight from Delhi made a stopover for refuelling in Vienna, Austria, but despite being scheduled for departure for Washington, DC, never took off from there on July 2.
According to Flightradar24 data, the flight AI103 took off from New Delhi and landed in Vienna on July 2. But never took off from there.
Cancelled due to maintenance
Media reports said that the Air India flight had to remain in Vienna for an extended period as the need for extended maintenance was noticed, for which the flight had to be cancelled.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the issue was noticed and flagged during routine checks. Quoting an Air India spokesperson, the report further stated that after the issue came to light, the flight was cancelled and all passengers were disembarked.
Meanwhile, another Air India Flight, the AI104, from Washington, DC to Delhi via Vienna, was also cancelled. The affected passengers were either accommodated on another flight or offered a full refund on their tickets as per their preference.
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Air India flight drops 900 feet
The incident comes days after another Air India flight, the Vienna-bound AI 187, experienced an in-flight warning soon after it took off from Delhi on June 14.
According to a Times of India Report on June 14, a "stick shaker warning" and a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) "don't sink" caution appeared on the aircraft’s control system.
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"There was an altitude loss of around 900 feet during the climb. Subsequently, the crew recovered the aircraft and continued the flight to Vienna," officials said as quoted in the report.
The incident took place 38 hours after the deadly crash of Air India flight AI 171, soon after it took off from the Ahmedabad Airport on June 12 ,that killed all but one of the 242 passengers onboard. Several others also died on the ground as the aircraft crashed into the students’ hostel of a medical college near the airport.