Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight forced to turn back with 'technical issue'
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner heading for Delhi has been forced to turn back after the pilot said the aircraft was facing technical issues.
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The plane had departed Hong Kong for Delhi but returned to Hong Kong as a precaution.
The aircraft landed safely in Hong Kong. The nature of the technical issue is currently unclear. Air India has not yet released a statement or given any further updates on the issue
It comes just days after the Air India disaster which saw a Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash to the ground, killing at least 270 people.
Less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in northwestern India, the London-bound plane crashed and exploded into a fireball. Of the 242 people onboard, 241 died. There was only one survivor, who was in seat 11A on the plane.
Read more: Tears at Air India crash vigil as sisters orphaned by disaster mourned by faith leaders
He walked out of the rubble with only superficial injuries.
As investigations continue, questions are being raised about how the tragedy occurred and the safety of flying in general, given several high-profile cases that have been witnessed in the past few years.
Video shows the plane struggling to gain elevation after takeoff and reaching only 190m.
David Gleave, a former accident investigator, told reporters: “It’s a very unusual accident … it’s a very unusual situation, so soon after takeoff, and it is a very safe aeroplane.”
Boeing has hit the headlines in recent years with other models having been involved in fatal crashes around the world, but this was the first time the 787 Dreamliner had been involved in an accident where anybody died.
Crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max killed hundreds of people in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia.
The company has only just settled a $1.1bn payout over the fatal crashes.
Meanwhile, Air India has for years been trying to revamp its fleet.