Air India flight from Chennai to Andaman forced to return due to bad weather, 128 passengers stranded

CHENNAI: An Air India passenger flight from Chennai to Andaman with 98 passengers was unable to land in Andaman due to bad weather and returned back to Chennai.

Meanwhile, 128 passengers were waiting at the Andaman airport to arrive at Chennai on an Air India passenger flight from Andaman. But the plane returned to Chennai without landing in Andaman, leaving 128 passengers stranded in Andaman.

An Air India passenger flight from Chennai Domestic Airport to Andaman departed for Andaman with 98 passengers at 5:15 am on Saturday.

When the flight entered the Andaman airspace around 7:30 am, there was a strong gale and bad weather.

After this, the plane was unable to land in Andaman and kept taxiing in the sky, but the weather in Andaman was not favourable.

The pilot immediately contacted the Chennai airport control room. After this, it was advised to bring the plane back to Chennai.

Following this, an Air India flight from Andaman returned to Chennai this afternoon and landed. All passengers were disembarked from the plane. It was then announced that the flight would be canceled today and would depart Andaman again tomorrow morning.

Passengers questioned why, while other flights from Chennai to the Andaman Islands had landed as scheduled, this particular flight could not.

Officials explained that weather conditions in the area were highly variable, changing minute by minute. The aircraft had to turn back due to unsafe landing conditions, prioritizing passenger safety.

They assured passengers that their tickets would be valid for travel on the rescheduled flight the following morning or on any future date of their choice.

After this reassurance, the passengers dispersed from Chennai airport.