Aviation watchdog DGCA on Monday said the AI2455 Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was diverted to Chennai on Sunday evening due to a suspected malfunction of its weather radar, following which the aircraft landed safely. AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal, one of the passengers, claimed the flight came "frighteningly close to tragedy".

"For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting land clearance, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt - 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. The flight landed safely on the second attempt," he said in a post on X. We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck. I urge @DGCAIndia and @MoCA_GoI to investigate this incident urgently, fix accountability, and ensure such lapses never happen again," he added.

Air India refuted the claims and said the diversion was taken “in the best interest of passenger and crew safety” and denied any link to another aircraft being on the runway. To avoid an overweight landing, the aircraft orbited for 43 minutes before its first approach. At 10.19 pm, ATC instructed a missed approach after another departing flight reported debris on the runway. No debris was found, and the Air India plane landed at 10.39 pm, DGCA said.

BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said either Venugopal or Air India was “misrepresenting facts” and called for scrutiny, even suggesting Venugopal could face a no-fly list if his claim proved false.

The flight, AI2455, had already been delayed by 49 minutes due to a late arrival from Delhi before taking off at 8.04 pm. All passengers were later accommodated on alternate flights to Delhi.