NEW DELHI: Air India Express Tiruchirapalli-Sharjah flight that left Kerala 5.43 pm Friday with about 150 people on board is returning to the origin following suspected snag in the Boeing 737. The pilots suspected a hydraulic snag. Sources say the landing gear could not be retracted after take off, perhaps due to a hydraulic failure.
“Since the aircraft was fuelled up to fly to Sharjah, the crew will burn fuel for a while by circling nearby before landing.This is done to avoid over weight landing,” said sources. The airline described it as a “precautionary landing” due to the suspected snag.
All precautionary steps like lining up emergency vehicles along the runway as per norms have been made for this aircraft’s landing.