Air India Flight: A San Francisco-bound Air India plane, carrying around 230 passengers, returned to New Delhi due to a technical issue on Wednesday morning. The Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft returned to the national capital after being airborne for over eight hours, news agency PTI reported, quoting the sources.

What Air India Said On The Incident

Later, the airline said, "The aircraft landed safely and will undergo technical inspection in line with Air India's safety standards."

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"Flight AI173 from Delhi to San Francisco on May 27 has returned to Delhi due to a technical issue in accordance with the laid down procedures," the airline said.

Regretting the inconvenience caused to the passengers, Air India said it was making alternative arrangements to fly them to their destination as soon as possible. "In the meantime, our ground teams are providing all necessary assistance to the passengers, including refreshments, hotel accommodation or rescheduling as opted by them," the airline said.

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Meanwhile, the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.com confirmed the development. The site displayed that the plane was airborne for over eight hours.

The aircraft started diverting back to the national capital after being airborne for over three hours when it was in Chinese airspace, it showed.

Air India Plane Makes Emergency Landing At Delhi Airport

Earlier on May 21, an Air India aircraft from Bengaluru, with 160 passengers on board, made an emergency landing at the Delhi airport due to suspected engine fire. The crew followed all standard operating procedures and landed the aircraft safely at the Delhi airport.

All passengers and crew were safe and disembarked normally, the airline said in a statement. The A320 aircraft was operating the flight AI2802 from Bengaluru to Delhi.

"During the aircraft's final approach into Delhi, the cockpit crew received a fire indication from one of the engines. The indication was subsequently confirmed as true," the statement said.

(With PTI Inputs)