Delhi–Bengaluru Air India flight makes emergency landing in Bhopal after technical snag

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): An Air India flight from Delhi to Bengaluru made an unscheduled landing at Bhopal Airport on Monday evening after a warning was detected in the cargo hold.

The flight, AIC 2487 (A320 Neo, VT-EXO), landed safely, and all passengers and crew members were reported to be safe, according to initial media reports.

Visuals from the airport showed passengers waiting at the terminal and enquiring about when the flight would resume its journey to Bengaluru.

"Following standard safety procedures, a full emergency was declared at 1933 IST. A few minutes later, the crew confirmed that the warning had cleared and all aircraft systems were normal. The flight landed safely at 2000 IST with 172 persons on board. All operations are normal," an airport official told PTI.

The incident coincided with another precautionary landing earlier in the day, when a Delhi-bound Air India flight from San Francisco carrying 228 passengers diverted to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, following a suspected technical issue.

Air India said it is making alternative arrangements to fly them to their destination Delhi at the earliest.

The Boeing 777 aircraft landed safely at Ulaanbaatar.

"AI174 of 02 November, operating from San Francisco to Delhi via Kolkata, made a precautionary landing at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, after the flight crew suspected a technical issue en route," the airline said in a statement.

There were 245 people in the plane, including 228 passengers and 17 crew members, a source said.