Image used for representational functions solely.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
A Vancouver-bound Air India Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, after being airborne for over seven hours, returned to the nationwide capital on Thursday (March 19, 2026) night after it was discovered that the plane was not authorised for working the flight, in accordance to sources.
An obvious lapse in updating the checklist of necessities for the operation of flights to Canada resulted within the state of affairs, the place a wrong aircraft was deployed for the actual service, sources mentioned.
Without offering particular particulars, Air India, in an announcement on Friday (March 20), mentioned the aircraft had landed safely on the Delhi airport.
The flight was operated with Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft VT-AEI and was airborne for over seven hours. The plane turned again to Delhi when it was within the Chinese airspace, in accordance to data out there on the flight monitoring web site Flightradar24.com.
“Air India flight AI185, operating from Delhi to Vancouver on 19 March, returned to Delhi due to an operational issue and in line with established standard operating procedures. The aircraft landed safely, and all passengers and crew had disembarked,” the airline mentioned in an announcement.
The sources mentioned the flight ought to have been operated solely with a Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, and there was no approval for flying the Boeing 777-200 LR plane.
There are numerous approvals required for working flights to overseas locations, and people depend upon every nation. Meanwhile, Air India additionally mentioned the flight departed for Vancouver with the passengers on Friday (March 20) morning.
Published – March 21, 2026 11:06 am IST
