Thiruvananthapuram: Air India Express flights from here to Saudi Arabia must make an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on Saturday after a gap in the aircraft windshield detected, an airport official said.
After taking off here at around 7:52 a.m., less than an hour into a flight, the pilot watched the crack in the aircraft windshield which encouraged them to return to Thiruvananthapuram for an emergency landing at around 8:50 a.m., the official said.
However, the plane did not have passengers, because of the restrictions on Covid-19 on international travel to a particular destination, and only carrying cargo and eight crew.
All members of the crew, including pilots, safe, C V Ravindran, Towvananthapuram Airport director, told PTI.
He also said that having a gap detected in a pre-flight examination, the plane would not take off and therefore, it must have happened during take-off or when sailing.
The flight will return from Damman in Saudi Arabia with Indian passengers as part of ‘Vande Bharat Mission “, he added.
AI Express flights make emergency landings because of the windshield gap
