Air India’s Mumbai-bound B777 returns to Delhi after engine oil pressure drops to zero

NEW DELHI: An Air India flight carrying 335 passengers, which took off from Delhi to Mumbai on Monday morning, was forced to make an emergency landing at Indira Gandhi International Airport as the oil pressure on one of its engines dropped to zero. The crew landed the aircraft safely using its other engine, with an emergency declared at Delhi airport.Flight AIC 887, a B77-300 ER aircraft took off from Delhi at about 6.30 am instead of its scheduled time of 3.20 am and was airborne for nearly an hour before making an air turn-back. The aircraft landed safely in Delhi and all passengers and crew disembarked without incident.According to a statement from the Civil Aviation Ministry, flight AI887 experienced an air turnback when the flight crew observed low engine oil pressure in Engine No. 2 (right-hand engine) during flap retraction after take-off. Shortly thereafter, the engine oil pressure dropped to zero. Following standard procedures, the crew shut down the engine and the aircraft landed safely at Delhi. An inspection is currently underway.A Delhi airport spokesperson said, “An emergency was declared between 6.40 am and 6.52 am. The aircraft was given priority landing and all flight operations were temporarily halted. As per SOP, ambulances, medical personnel, fire services and rescue teams were on standby. The aircraft landed safely,” the spokesperson said.The incident will be investigated by the airline’s permanent investigation board under the supervision of the Director of Air Safety (NR) of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).In a statement, Air India said, “The crew operating flight AI887 from Delhi to Mumbai on December 22 decided to return to Delhi shortly after take-off due to a technical issue as per standard operating procedure. The aircraft landed safely at Delhi, and the passengers and crew have disembarked.”The airline said the aircraft is undergoing necessary checks and that its ground team in Delhi is providing immediate assistance to passengers, with alternative arrangements made to fly them to their destination shortly.



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