It was truly a close shave for the 35 passengers, including 4 MPs from the state, whose plane was forced to turn back midair and land in New Delhi after a crack on the front windshield was noticed.
The pilot of the plane, belonging to Kingfisher Airlines, had radioed the Air Traffic Control (ATC) and asked for permission to turn back after noticing the crack. The plane had taken off 40 minutes earlier, and was headed for Hyderabad.
The ATC told the pilot to turn back and the plane landed safely in New Delhi.
According to sources, the MPs on board the aircraft include Lagadapati Rajagopal and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao from the Seemandhra region, and Anjan Kumar Yadav and Asaduddin Owaisi from the Telangana region. Acclaimed singer Ghazal Srinivas is also believed to be among the passengers.
3 of the MPs were in New Delhi to attend a meeting with Congress In-Charge of Andhra Pradesh Affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad in an attempt to arrive at a solution regarding the bifurcation of the state.
Later, Kingfisher Airlines arranged a special plane to transport the stranded passengers to Hyderabad.