Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal Recounts Near-Disaster on Air India Flight, Calls for Urgent Aviation Safety Overhaul

Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP K C Venugopal has demanded an urgent probe into a “near-tragedy” involving Air India flight AI 2455 from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on Saturday, which he says could have ended in disaster but for the quick thinking of the pilots.

File Photo Source: AeroConcepts on X

In a detailed account posted on X (formerly Twitter), Venugopal said the flight -- carrying several MPs and “hundreds of passengers” -- departed late from Thiruvananthapuram and encountered “unprecedented turbulence” soon after take-off. 

“About an hour later, the Captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai. For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting clearance to land,” Venugopal wrote.

The real scare, he said, came during the first landing attempt at Chennai, when “another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway.”

“In that split second, the Captain’s quick decision to pull up saved every life on board,” Venugopal said, adding that the aircraft landed safely on the second attempt. 

“We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck,” he emphasised, tagging the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to urge an urgent investigation and “accountability for such lapses.”

Venugopal, a former Minister of State for Civil Aviation, has been an outspoken advocate of stronger air safety protocols.

"The flight crew of AI2455 operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on 10 August made a precautionary diversion to Chennai due to a suspected technical issue and given the weather conditions enroute. The flight landed safely in Chennai, where the aircraft will undergo the necessary checks. We regret the inconvenience caused to the affected passengers. Our colleagues on the ground in Chennai are extending support to the passengers to minimise it and are making alternative arrangements to fly the passengers to their respective destinations at the earliest," an Air India spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Venugopal’s call for a probe is expected to put fresh pressure on the DGCA to address both technical and procedural safety gaps, especially in runway management and air traffic coordination.