Air India Flight Issues PAN-PAN Alert, Makes Emergency Landing In Thiruvananthapuram After Midair Engine Trouble
The pilots had received a warning in the cockpit that the second engine was low on oil and the pressure was zero.
Published : March 11, 2026 at 12:51 PM IST
Thiruvananthapuram: A major aviation disaster was averted on Wednesday as Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to New Delhi made an emergency landing shortly after take off from here, after the pilots detected low oil and zero pressure in one of the engines.
Soon after taking off, the pilots of the AI-830 Airbus A321 received a warning in the cockpit that the second engine was low on oil and the pressure was zero. Realising that it was dangerous to continue operating the engine, the pilots immediately turned it off mid-air and issued a 'PAN-PAN' emergency alert to the air traffic control (ATC). Such a message is given to allow landing on priority in case of a serious situation.
The ATC cleared the aircraft to turn back to Thiruvananthapuram, after which it landed safely, and all the passengers and crew members were evacuated. Adani Airport PRO Mahesh Guptan said that the plane was declared AOG (Aircraft on Ground) for technical inspection.
"Airline engineers are investigating whether the fault was caused by an oil leak in the engine," he said.'
On the same day, an Air India Express aircraft operating its Hyderabad-Phuket (Thailand) flight suffered a nose-wheel issue at Phuket Airport, the airline said. Authorities suspended flight operations at Phuket airport following the incident since the aircraft is stuck on the runway, PTI reported, quoting sources.
The number of passengers onboard the Boeing 737-Max8 aircraft was not immediately known. "We confirm that our Hyderabad-Phuket flight on March 11 experienced an issue with the nose wheel at Phuket Airport," Air India Express said in a statement.
The nose wheel is a critical component of an aircraft's landing gear system. Flight IX 938 took off from Hyderabad at 6.42 am instead of its scheduled departure time of 6.20 am, and landed at Phuket International Airport 11.40 am local time, according to flight tracking website flightradar24.com. "The crew followed all standard protocols, and guests were deplaned," Air India Express said in the statement.
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