5 MPs claim ‘breach of privilege’ by Air India in letter to Speaker, seek probe

“Air India’s response to our concern was to label them as false — which is an attempt at discrediting MPs who are raising genuine concerns regarding safety of air travel… Have written to the Hon’ble Speaker regarding this Breach of Privilege on part of Air India,” Venugopal said.

In its response Monday, Air said its pilots were “well-trained to handle such situations, and in this case, they followed standard procedures throughout the flight”.

Detailing the incident, Venugopal said he was among hundreds of passengers on the Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi flight AI 2455 on August, 10, 2025, scheduled for departure at 7.15 pm but eventually taking off around 8.30 pm citing late arrival of the incoming aircraft.

“From the outset, the journey was marked by prolonged turbulence. Passengers were instructed to remain strapped in… Midway through the flight, the pilot announced a critical technical fault — failure of the weather radar — and declared that the aircraft would be diverted to Chennai. This raised immediate concerns since other airports such as Bengaluru and Coimbatore were closer to our location at the time,” he said.

Air India Monday said the flight diverted to Chennai Sunday followed protocols and the first landing attempt had to be aborted due to suspected foreign debris presence on the runway.