New Delhi: Air India on Monday issued an clarification on its Thiruvananthapuram -Deli Flight AI2455 after Senior Congress leader and MP KC Venugopal, which was on the board, described it as a “rigid journey”.“The airline stated that diversion for Chennai was a” precautionary “measure due to a suspected technical obstacle and bad weather, rejecting Venugopal’s claim that another aircraft on the runway had forced the aircraft to cancel their landing.
‘Air India is lying’: Congress MP claims
Venugopal dismissed the airline’s clarification, saying, “Air India is lying” and is calling for investigation. “There should be an investigation on the issue. An unfortunate incident took place yesterday. It was announced by the pilot that when we were going to land, there was another aircraft on the runway. I also talked to DGCA. Let them do an inquiry. Air India is lying … “Congress MP said.
Air India clarification
In his statement on X addressed to Venugopal, Air India said: “Dear Mr. Venugopal, we would like to clarify that Chennai was a precaution due to a suspected technical issue and bad weather situation for Chennai. Chennai airport was already directed by Chennai ATC during the presence of another Holiday. He followed the flight. We understand that this kind of experience can be dissatisfied and may regret inconvenience that diversion may be due to you. However, security is always our priority. Thank you for your understanding.”
‘Doubtful weather radar malfunction, they turned into Chennai’: DGCA
Meanwhile, DGCA issued a detailed statement at Air India’s turn: “On August 10, 2025, Air India A320 aircraft VT-TNL was scheduled to operate the flying AI2455 (TRV-DELHI) with the prescribed time of departure as 7.15 pm. Due to the late arrival of aircraft from Delhi, the aircraft flagged off TRV at 8.04 am. During the flight, the aircraft faced moderate disturbed conditions. The crew noticed that the weather information shown on the weather radar was not accurate. Suspecting the weather radar malfunction, they turned into Chennai. ,
‘Heart-stopping moment’
Earlier, Venugopal posted on X: “What started as a delayed departure turned into a rigid journey. Soon after the take-off, we collided with unprecedented unrest. About an hour later, Captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai. For about two hours, we waited the airport to approval to go to the ground, until a heart stopped during our first attempt-one and the aircraft was allegedly on the same runway. In that split second, the captain’s quick decision saved every life on the board. The flight landed safely on the second attempt. ,He said, “We survived skills and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck. ,After diversion, Air India arranged for another Airbus A320NEO (VT-TQE) to fly passengers from Chennai to Delhi as AI2455. The TRV -Delhi flight, usually taking 3.5 hours and scheduled to depart at 7:15 pm, left Thiruvananthapuram at 8 pm on Sunday, landed in Chennai at 10:39 pm, and resumed the journey at 1:40 pm, finally reached Delhi at around 4 pm.
BJP’s response
Reacting to the incident, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya called the matter “very serious” and flagged off the contradiction between Venugopal’s account and Air India’s clarification.“If senior Congress leader KC Venugopal claims that an Air India flight was to be a landing abortion in Chennai, as another aircraft was on the runway and the airline immediately contradicts him, one of them is wrongly presenting the facts. Aviation safety is paramount, and unnatural people cannot be responded to for social media posts. If not, Mr. Venugopal should face the results, which is placed in the no-fly list to spread the lie, “Malavia said.
