Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner returns after taking off

NEW DELHI: An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane which took off from here for Frankfurt carrying 200 passengers an hour behind schedule, returned after being airborne for about three hours, an airline spokesman said.

The flight (AI 121) left IGI airport at around 1.45 PM after the delay in its departure was caused by wait for connecting passengers who arrived from different parts of the country, he said.

The spokesperson said the plane returned after the pilot calculated that if they go ahead with the journey, night curfew would be imposed at Frankfurt Airport and they would not be able to land.

Secondly, the flight duty time limitation of a pilot would have come into force as the flight was delayed. So the pilot decided to come back to Delhi, the spokesperson said.

The passengers were deboarded and given accommodation and the flight will now leave for Frankfurt tomorrow morning, according to the spokesperson.