Summary
- A tire on an Air India Boeing 787 burst during takeoff from Delhi, forcing the crew to return to the airport. The aircraft landed safely without further incident.
- The flight to Paris was delayed for nearly 8 hours, but a substitute plane was arranged and eventually reached the destination.
- The aircraft entered a holding pattern to dump fuel and reduce weight before landing. There have been no reported injuries, and the protection of the passengers was the airline’s priority.
A tire on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Air India certain for Paris, France, burst during takeoff from Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in Delhi, India, on Friday. The incident caused the crew to return to the airport.
The aircraft landed safely without further incident, and the airline worked to rearrange a substitute plane. The flight eventually made it to Paris but arrived nearly 8 hours past its original scheduled arrival time.
Details of the incident
Flightradar24.com data indicates that the aircraft, VT-NAA, is a 787-8 and operated as Air India flight 143 (AI143) from Delhi to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). The plane departed on schedule at 12:55 after which took off from runway 28R at 13:22. In line with a press release from an Air India spokesperson obtained by the Times of India, air traffic controllers (ATC) reportedly noticed debris on the runway after the aircraft departed and informed the pilots.
“Flight AI143 operating Delhi-Paris on July 28, 2023, returned shortly after takeoff, following the Delhi ATC’s information to flight crew about suspected tire debris sighted on the runway after departure.”
Photo: aiyoshi597/Shutterstock
VT-NAA headed west and reached an altitude of 12,000 feet at roughly 13:28. Five minutes later, the aircraft entered a holding pattern and descended to 11,000 feet. The practice can be generally known as a scheme to kill time while within the air and may be instructed by ATC for various reasons.
Heavy air traffic or congestion within the airspace, delays on the arrival airport, procedures for a missed approach, or a pilot’s request to permit more time to perform checklist procedures for an emergency are all general uses of a holding pattern, in accordance with Skybrary. Typically, aircraft fly in an oval course several times before lining up for approach.
In line with The Aviation Herald, AI143 entered a hold to dump fuel because the aircraft was too heavy to securely land. Roughly 28 minutes after VT-NAA began its holding course, the aircraft descended further to 9,000 feet. Then, a couple of minutes after 14:00, the crew exited the holding pattern and descended to three,000 feet before lining as much as land on runway 11.
Returning to Delhi
Nearly an hour after it took off, VT-NAA landed safely at DEL at 14:18, in accordance with the Times of India. The aircraft has since been taken out of service for maintenance, and no injuries were reported.
Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis/Shutterstock
VT-NAA stays on the bottom at DEL because it undergoes maintenance. In line with ch-aviation, the aircraft was delivered to Air India in August 2017 and has recorded greater than 21,000 flight hours with over 3,000 flight cycles. It’s unclear when it’ll return to service.