• Source:JND
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Three Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft of different airlines and bound for different Indian cities made emergency return mid-air within 36 hours due to technical snags and a bomb threat.

These development comes in the wake of the deadly Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, where 241 out of 242 onboard the Air India flight were killed. The total death count has reached 274 as the plane crashed into the nearby BJ Medical College Hostel.

Hong Kong to Hyderabad: Among those returned mid-air is Delhi-bound Air India flight AI-315. The 787 Dreamliner took off from Hong Kong Airport at 12:16 pm (local time) and returned within an hour after the pilot suspected a technical issue.

After the flight landed safely at the origin airport, all passengers were safely evacuated from the plane, and the inspection followed.

The airline confirmed the development and issued a statement, saying, "AI315 operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on 16 June 2025 returned to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff due to a technical issue. The flight landed safely at Hong Kong and is undergoing checks as a matter of abundant precaution. Alternative arrangements have been planned to fly the passengers to their destination Delhi at the earliest."

The flight had already taken off after a delay of over 3 hours, as per the data from the flightradar24.

Germany to Hyderabad: On Monday, another Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft of Lufthansa, which took off from Germany's Frankfurt Airport for Hyderabad, returned to the origin airport after the Hyderabad airport received a bomb threat email. As per a report by news agency ANI, "A bomb threat email targeting Lufthansa flight LH 752 was received at the Hyderabad airport at 18:01 pm on 15th June 2025. Bomb threat assessment committee was formed and all procedures were followed as per SOP. In the interest of safety, the airline was advised to divert back to the origin or the nearest suitable airport."

The flight was denied permission to land while it was outside Indian airspace. Lufthansa said that the flight did not receive permission to land at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Eventually, the flight returned to Frankfurt.

London to Chennai: Earlier on Sunday evening, a British Airways flight, also a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, en route to Chennai, returned to Heathrow Airport after circling over the Strait of Dover multiple times.

While the data from the Flightradar24 showed flight returned, initially, the airline website showed it as cancelled on its website.

Later, the airline stated that the plane suffered a technical snag after which it safely landed at the origin airport following standard procedures.

Ahmedabad plane crash prompted the regulatory and safety concerns regarding the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, after which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) mandated a one-time security check for all aircraft before further operations. Complying with that, Air India ordered checks on all its flights. The process is currently underway.