Why an Air India Newark-Delhi flight was diverted to Stockholm

An Air India flight that took off from Newark in New Jersey, United States, for Delhi was diverted to Sweden capital Stockholm on Wednesday (February 22) following an oil leak incident. A senior official from the Indian aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), quoted in a report by news agency PTI, informed that the oil leak was reported in one of the engines. The engine of the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft was shut down and the plane landed safely in Stockholm. A ground inspection was initiated and the probe is still on.

This comes two days after another Air India plane from New York to Delhi was diverted to London because of a medical emergency. The passenger concerned, reports said, was taken to a hospital soon after the landing at the Heathrow airport. This, as expected, led to a delay of a couple of hours in arrival at the final destination.

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Air India incidents that drew criticism
The latest incident linked to the Indian airline has drawn the regulator's attention at a time when several domestic carriers are making headlines for wrong reasons, including Air India. Recently the carrier was fined $36,000 after a drunk male passenger urinated on a female co-passenger in November on a New York-Delhi flight. Criticising Air India for handling of the incident, the regulator also penalised the pilot, who lost his license for three months.

Days later, the DGCA imposed a $12,000 fine on the carrier for not reporting a similar incident in December. "Enforcement action in the form of the financial penalty of ₹10 lakh has been imposed on Air India for not reporting the incident to DGCA and delaying in referring the matter to its Internal Committee, which is a violation of applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements," it said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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