Indian media report aircraft’s pilot suspected a technical issue during flight, prompting decision to turn back
MUMBAI: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-June 16th, 2025) Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route from Hong Kong to Delhi was forced to return shortly after takeoff due to a suspected technical malfunction.
According to Indian media, the aircraft’s pilot suspected a technical issue during the flight, prompting the decision to turn back. While the exact nature of the issue has not been officially confirmed, the aircraft landed safely in Hong Kong and no injuries have been reported.
The data from online flight tracker Flightradar24 shows that the plane returned to Hong Kong airport within 90 minutes of takeoff.
Air India has yet to release a statement regarding the nature of the technical issue or the rescheduling of the flight.
The aircraft involved in this incident is the same model — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — as the one that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, resulting in the deaths of all 241 passengers onboard, with one person miraculously surviving.
A similar incident occurred on Sunday involving another Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operated by British Airways. The Chennai-bound flight from London was forced to return to Heathrow due to a technical issue.
According to Flightradar24, British Airways flight BA35, which was scheduled to depart London Heathrow at 12:40 PM, took off at 1:16 PM after a delay but returned to Heathrow after spending nearly two hours in the air.
British Airways confirmed that the aircraft returned to Heathrow as a precaution after the technical issue was detected.
The flight later safely landed in Chennai with all passengers and crew unharmed.
