A Hong Kong-Delhi Air India flight made a U-turn as a precautionary measure on Monday after nearly an hour of take-off. The captain of Flight AI315 suspected a technical issue and requested to land back at the Hong Kong International Airport.
An audio of the conversation between the pilot and the Air Traffic Control (ATC) was posted on the traffic control monitoring website LiveATC.net. The pilot told the ATC that "for technical reasons, sir, we would like to stay closer to Hong Kong, maybe we will come back to Hong Kong and sort out the problem," according to the audio clip.
"We don't want to continue further," the pilot is heard saying in the same audio clip.
The AI315 took off from Hong Kong at about 12:20 pm, reached a height of 22,000 feet, and then began to drop, as per AirNav Radar.
The aircraft, a Boeing Dreamliner 787-8, returned to Hong Kong International Airport after requesting local standby at 1 pm (0500 GMT) and "landed safely at around 1:15 pm", according to Reuters.
"AI315 operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on 16 June 2025 air-returned to Hong Kong shortly after take-off due to a technical issue. The flight landed safely in Hong Kong and is undergoing checks as a matter of abundant precaution," Air India said in a statement.
Alternative arrangements have been planned to fly the passengers to their destination, Delhi, at the earliest, the airline added. "We are providing all necessary on-ground assistance to the passengers to minimise the inconvenience caused by this unforeseen disruption," it added.
The Delhi-bound Air India flight's U-turn came days after another Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 aircraft, carrying 242 people, crashed onto the doctors' hostel of a medical college in Ahmedabad. At least 274 people, including 241 of the 242 on board the London-bound flight were killed in what was the deadliest aviation disaster in India's history.
The Government of India has constituted a panel to probe the crash. The committee, with senior officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), and independent aviation safety experts, will investigate possible technical failures, maintenance records, and crew actions in the lead-up to the incident.
