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.