Air India's bad luck continues: Boeing Dreamliner 787 from Hong Kong to Delhi forced to return after 'technical issues'

Just days after India's deadliest aviation disaster in over a decade, an Air India flight en route to Delhi from Hong Kong was forced to turn back after suspected technical issues.

Air India flight from Hong Kong turns back midair

Shortly after takeoff on Monday, June 16, Flight AI315, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner—the same model that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025—had to return to Hong Kong because of a possible technical problem, according to news agency ANI.

Citing sources familiar with the incident, the news agency reported that the Boeing aircraft took off on time but was forced to return in midair when the pilot noticed what appeared to be a system malfunction.

According to the report, all passengers were reported safe, and the aircraft made a safe landing back in Hong Kong. Since then, technical teams have started examining the aircraft to identify what caused the anomaly.

Air India's continued bad luck

In less than a week's time, this is the third incident involving Air India. It follows the devastating June 12 crash of Flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, which claimed the lives of 270 people, including 241 of the 242 passengers and 29 on-the-ground civilians.

Separately, early on Sunday (Jun 15) morning at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, a Saudi Airlines flight carrying more than 250 Hajj pilgrims was evacuated due to a landing gear malfunction.

After taking off late Saturday from Jeddah, flight SV 3112 touched down at around 6:30 am after smoke and sparks were seen coming from its left wheel during taxiing. The pilot, as per reports, immediately notified air traffic control and brought the aircraft to a stop. All passengers were safely evacuated after emergency personnel acted quickly.

According to preliminary investigations, the sparks may have been caused by a hydraulic leak that overheated the wheel assembly.