An Emirates flight from Chennai to Dubai carrying 206 passengers was forced to turn around in the Arabian Sea in the early hours of Monday, reports Venkadesan S. The decision came after authorities alerted pilots to a drone strike that sparked a fire near a fuel tank facility at Dubai Airport. The flight (EK543) took off from Chennai at 4 am, but when the flight was flying at an altitude of 34,000 feet over the Arabian Sea, the pilot received a warning not to continue flying. The flight then returned to Chennai and landed safely at 6.45 am. It was declared cancelled. Passengers disembarked and were instructed to reschedule. Harini, who is from the city and had hoped to reach London via Dubai, said she would not be able to travel to London for work due to flight cancellations. Another passenger, Syed Hasan, said he was unable to travel to Dubai to visit his wife and that his flights had been canceled three times in the past week. Elderly passenger Usha said the crew did not elaborate on the reason for their return. Ahmedabad-Dubai flight also returned Due to a brief interruption in operations at Dubai Airport, an Ahmedabad-Dubai flight (EK539) carrying more than 250 passengers was also forced to return in the early hours of Monday morning. In a separate incident, an Emirates flight (EK649) from Colombo to Dubai was diverted to Ahmedabad, landing at 11:36 am with nearly 300 passengers on board.
