Midair technical snags forced two India-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners to return to Hong Kong and London days after an Air India 787-8 crashed on takeoff from Ahmedabad and killed 274 people.
A Delhi-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 returned to Hong Kong on Monday shortly after takeoff, hours after a Chennai-bound British Airways Dreamliner had turned back to London on Sunday. Both flights experienced technical problems, whose details remain undisclosed so far.
The twin scares come at a time when Dreamliners, feted for their advanced technology, have come under intense scrutiny following the June 12 Ahmedabad crash, whose speculated causes include a possible double-engine failure.
A day after the crash, the directorate-general of civil aviation had directed Air India to carry out safety checks on all its 33 Dreamliners — 26 Boeing 787-8s and 7 Boeing 787-9s.
Sources said all the technical and safety checks had been carried out on the AI315 — the Hong Kong-Delhi flight that turned back midway after the crew detected a technical glitch. The flight landed safely in Hong Kong, Air India said.
According to online flight-tracking platform flightradar24, the AI315 took off at 12.16pm local time, three-and-a-half hours after its scheduled 8.50am departure. It returned to Hong Kong after making a circle over the South China Sea, remaining in the air for a total 85 minutes.
“AI315 operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on 16 June 2025 air-returned to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff due to a technical issue,” an Air India spokesperson said.
“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.”
Passengers check flight information display screens at Hong Kong International Airport after flight AI315, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for New Delhi, returned to its origin of Hong Kong Reuters
According to Flightradar24, British Airways’ flight BA35 took off from Heathrow at 1.16pm after a 36-minute delay and circled over the Strait of Dover multiple times before returning to Heathrow. The flight was airborne for nearly two hours. It landed safely, British Airways said in a statement.
Bomb threat
A bomb threat led a Hyderabad-bound Dreamliner 787-9 Lufthansa flight to turn back to Frankfurt on Sunday.
Flight LH752 had taken off around 2.14pm local time on Sunday and was to land in Hyderabad in the early hours of Monday.
Flight tracker data showed a diversion a few hours into the flight, when it was over the Black Sea after having crossed the Bulgaria border. The flight remained in the air for almost four hours.
Sources said Hyderabad airport had received the bomb threat via email, and the airline was advised to divert the flight back to its origin or the nearest suitable airport, in keeping with standard operating procedure.
Smoke alarm
Smoke was seen coming out of the wheels of a Saudia flight as it landed at Lucknow airport on Sunday, bringing back 242 Haj pilgrims from Jeddah, sources told PTI.
Neither the passengers nor the plane suffered any harm.
“The Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting team rushed to the spot. Working with the Saudia team, the smoke was contained and damage to the aircraft was averted,” the sources said.
Airport operations were not affected, they added.