Hong Kong-Bound Air India Flyers Complain Of 'Noises From Emergency Door', Airline Responds
While Air India did confirm the news, it said that there was no emergency-like situation due to this incident.
Days after AI-171 crashed in Ahmedabad claiming the lives of 241 people, the passengers of Air India's Delhi to Hong Kong flight complained that the flight they travelled in was damaged internally and noises were coming from the emergency door.
According to sources, the incident occurred on June 1, when Air India flight AI-314 took off from Delhi for Hong Kong.
The passenger informed that despite complaining, the crew did not take any action and placed a paper napkin on the emergency door.
Nearly an hour after the takeoff, one of the passenger noticed that the noises were coming from the emergency door and the internal part was weak. However, the flight landed safely in Hong Kong.
Air India Issues Statement
While Air India did confirm the news, it said that there was no emergency-like situation due to this incident. The airlines stated that the flight went under multiple checks before it too-off.
'An aircraft undergoes multiple engineering checks before it is cleared for flight operations according top priority to safety issues. Air India flight AI314 from Delhi to Hong Kong on June 1, 2025 went through said process before it took flight," Air India said in a statement.
the airlines said that a hissing sound started emanating from the decorative door panel mid-flight, and after assessing that there was no risk to safety, crew took action to alleviate the noise.
'After landing in Hong Kong airport, the aircraft underwent checks by the engineering team. All safety parameters were found to be in compliance and the aircraft was cleared for service. There was no such noise during the return flight AI315 from Hong Kong to Delhi. We would like to reiterate that the safety of our customers and crew remains top priority," the statement added.
First Published:
June 21, 2025, 08:35 IST
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That also supports Vishwaskumar's recollection of the flight's last moments. He recollected there was a loud bang—which is now being interpreted as proof of the RAT being deployed. He added that the plane seemed to stop and then the 'engines began to race". That was actually the high-pitched whine of the turbine. He also mentioned a green light coming on in the cabin which is proof of the RAT being deployed and the plane signalling a dire emergency. None of these point to the pilots being distracted or careless; it points squarely to the aircraft. When Air India's much-loved Emperor Ashoka Boeing 747 aircraft—AI 855— bound for Dubai crashed on January 1, 1978, in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai's Bandra Bandstand just minutes after take-off, the investigation followed a rather predictable trajectory. The disaster was blamed on the extremely experienced pilot, Madan Lal Kukar, whose colleagues in the cockpit also had many thousand flying hours to their credit. 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He said Kukar was 'unfit to fly" as he was taking diabetes medication and had been dieting, adding that he had consumed alcohol the night before. He also said the co-pilot was 'negligent" as he had not watched the instruments and warned Kukar! Even today's rules (there were none in 1978) stipulate pilots cannot drink alcohol eight hours before a flight; if Kukar had consumed any, it was 24 hours before. Nor was it proved that he had alcohol in his system while flying. There was evidence about two previous incidents involving Boeing planes and malfunctioning ADIs, but they had not caused any accident. That belied Boeing's contention that there had never been multiple such failures on its planes and none on Emperor Ashoka either. One of the incidents was then shown to have 'contradictory" evidence and the judge was not convinced that the other one made a difference to the main issues of the AI-855 crash case. 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Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: June 20, 2025, 15:11 IST News opinion Opinion | Will An AI Pilot Be Made The Fall Guy Again? Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
