A technical problem, i.e. a crack in the windshield of the aircraft,  prompted a cargo flight of Air India Express to make an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport shortly after take-off on Saturday. While there were no passengers, the flight had eight crew members on board,  an airport official said.

According to the airport authorities, the flight that was headed for Dammam in Saudi Arabia took off around 6.50 a.m. Following a “minor technical issue”, the plane was brought back to Thiruvananthapuram around two hours later. All crew members have been reported to be safe, sources said.

After taking off from Thiruvananthapuram at around 7.52 am, less than an hour into the flight, the pilots noticed the crack in the windshield of the airplane prompting them to turn back to Thiruvananthapuram for an emergency landing at around 8.50 am, the official said.

However, the plane had no passengers, due to the COVID-19 restrictions on international travel to certain destinations, and was only carrying cargo and a crew of eight. All the crew members, including the pilots, are safe, CV Ravindran, the Director of Thiruvananthapuram Airport said. He also said that had the crack been detected in the pre-flight check, the plane would not have taken off and therefore, it must have happened during take-off or while cruising.

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