Second time in 10 days: ‘Excessive noise’ forces Air India A350 to divert after 7 hours of flight

New Delhi: For the second time in exactly 10 days, a new Airbus A350 (VT-JRF) of Air India was unable to complete its long-haul journey due to turbulence, excessive vibration and noise in the belly section. The latest incident occurred on Thursday when the flight, operating as AI 111, was traveling from Delhi to London. The problem arose again when the plane was in Omani airspace. The airline then decided to recall it to Delhi, where it returned after a flight of more than seven hours. While the airline is in contact with Airbus over issues with the new aircraft, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating the issue.Exactly the same problem occurred on March 16 when VT-JRF was flying from New York to Delhi. Passengers in rows 32 and 33 were rudely awakened by vibrations in the floor and the sound of feet. They alerted crews to noises and vibrations that were making them nervous. It was approaching the coast of Ireland at that time, and the pilot decided to divert to Shannon, and the AI ​​102 aircraft (VT-JRF) with 300 people on board landed safely in Shannon. Subsequently, as recommended by Airbus, the aircraft remained grounded there for inspection.The aircraft flew to Delhi on March 19 after completing the checks recommended by Airbus and following the measures taken by the OEM. The aircraft then operated 10 flights on the Delhi-London-Derry and Delhi-New York (via Rome) routes until the problem resurfaced on Thursday.Regarding the latest issue, an official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India said: “Air India VT-JRF flight AI 111 (returning to Delhi) A350 aircraft experienced noise issues due to the crew. The plane turned back from near Omani airspace. Previously, the aircraft also encountered the same problem when operating AI 102 (New York (JFK)-Delhi) flight on March 16. The aircraft was subsequently maintained/inspected in consultation with Airbus and no issues were found. Since then, the aircraft has flown 10 flight segments without any abnormality. Officials from the Airworthiness and Aviation Safety Agency will investigate the aircraft. “On Thursday, the Airbus A350-900 took off from Delhi at 5.42 am and returned to IGIA at 12.51 pm. “Passengers will be transported to their hotels and alternative arrangements are being made for their travel,” the source said. Already returned to AI on Thursday for comment and are awaiting comment.