Ten emergency landings due to technical snags reported since January 2024: Centre

Ten incidents of aircraft making emergency landings due to technical snags have been reported since January 2024, the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Parliament on Monday.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol also said that two incidents of turbulence were reported in the same period.

In addition to these, an Air India aircraft “declared mayday and eventually met with an accident” on June 12, said the minister.

Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, which was en route to London’s Gatwick airport from Ahmedabad, had crashed just 33 seconds after taking off on June 12.

There were 242 persons aboard the aircraft. One passenger survived with “impact injuries”.

Thirty-four persons were also killed on the ground after the plane crashed into the hostel building of the BJ Medical College and Hospital in Ahmedabad, according to Air India.

This was said to be the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.

In his reply, Mohol also said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had conducted 171 regulatory audits between 2020 and June 2025.

Structural audits of Delhi airport

Replying to a question on the roof collapse incidents in June 2024 and May 2025, Mohol said structural audits at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi found the terminals to be safe.

One person was killed and several others injured when part of the roof at the airport’s Terminal 1 collapsed amid heavy rain on June 28, 2024. The fallen canopy struck vehicles outside the terminal building.

On May 25, a portion of the roof at the same terminal collapsed during heavy rainfall. A video shared on social media showed part of the terminal’s tensile overhang giving way as water poured down and flooded the pavement below.

At the time, the Delhi International Airport Limited had said that the incident took place because of extreme weather, adding that there was “no structural compromise”.

In his reply, Mohol said that the May incident did not involve a roof collapse but damage to a “non-structural element”.

“A small portion of the tensile fabric (a non-structural element) in the forecourt area tore off due to an unusually high-intensity thunderstorm, accompanied by strong winds and unprecedented rainfall over a short duration,” he said.

Mohol added that the Terminal 1 canopy was inspected by Cortex Construction Solutions and the results were validated by the Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University. The structure has been found to be safe, he said.

Structural audits of Terminals 2 and 3 were conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. They were also found to be safe, the minister said.

He added that all airport operators have been directed to evaluate all structures before the onset of the monsoon season.

At the Delhi airport, Terminal 1 handles domestic flights by IndiGo and SpiceJet, Terminal 2 also serves domestic passengers and Terminal 3 handles all international flights along with some domestic operations.