Air India cancelled a Milan-Delhi flight on Saturday after discovering a technical problem just as the plane was preparing for takeoff. Additionally, the operating crew had reached their mandatory duty time limit, making it unsafe to continue the flight.

"Flight AI138 operating from Milan to Delhi on 16 August was cancelled due to a maintenance task identified during pushback, and subsequently due to the crew coming under the mandatory flight duty time limitation norms," an Air India spokesperson said.

The flight had been scheduled to depart on August 16. However, officials discovered the maintenance issue during the pre-departure pushback.

Passenger Support

"Air India sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers due to this unforeseen cancellation. Meanwhile, our ground team in Milan extended immediate assistance to all affected passengers, providing hotel accommodation and offering full refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling as opted by the passengers," the spokesperson added.

The airline arranged alternative flights for affected passengers. "At Air India, the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain top priority," the spokesperson emphasized.

Other Flight Disruptions

In addition, a Kochi-Delhi flight aborted takeoff on Sunday due to a technical problem. Air India rescheduled it for 1 a.m. on Monday. Furthermore, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) confirmed that the airline changed the aircraft for the journey.

Congress MP Hibi Eden, who was on the flight, said he felt like AI504 “flight skid on the runway.”

Earlier, two more flights were cancelled for technical reasons:

• AI349 from Singapore to Chennai was cancelled because a pre-departure maintenance issue required extra time to fix.

• AI500 from Bhubaneswar to Delhi was cancelled after high cabin temperatures on the ground made takeoff unsafe.