Mid-Air scare: Air India's shaking door makes hissing noise; crew manages situation, flight lands safely
Representative Image
MUMBAI: Passengers on board an Air India flight from Delhi to Hong Kong had a harrowing time after a door of the Boeing 787 aircraft started shaking and making hissing, growling noises about an hour into the flight operated on June 1.
AI's flight attendants plugged paper napkins into the thin gap at the top of the door and pushed it to seal and quieten it, while the flight continued to its destination and landed safely.
This was not the first case of a B787 having a door grumbling mid-flight. At least three other instances were recorded by airlines, the first in 2019 by Japan Airlines and then two cases in 2022 involving German carrier TUI Airlines and American Airlines.
In all three cases, pilots diverted the flight back to the airport of origin because of the noisy doors.
The Boeing 787 aircraft and safety concerns around it have been in focus since the June 12 Ahmedabad crash which killed 275 people. The incident on the flight to Hong Kong took place before that.
Passengers might find such incidents unnerving, but a hissing door poses no major risk to flight safety, and aircraft doors don't open mid-flight, pilots pointed out.
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The incident occurred on flight AI-314 which left Delhi at 11.45 pm, over an hour after its scheduled departure time. "About an hour after take-off, the door started shaking and making noises. It seemed the door seal came off due to air pressure," said a recent post on social media, quoting a passenger.
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