After a drop in engine oil pressure, an Air India Boeing 777 aircraft was forced to turn back, as revealed by India’s aviation regulator on December 22, 2025. During the flight, pilots were required to turn off one of the jet’s engines due to the incident, causing the early return.
A Drop in Engine Oil Pressure
During flaps retraction after take-off, the engine oil pressure on the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft dropped too low. Specifically, this was observed on the right-hand engine, which then dropped to zero shortly after. The crew on the flight responded immediately, shutting down the engine as per procedure. Due to this incident, the pilots were required to turn back after taking off not long before.
An Air India spokesperson shared on the incident,
“Air India sincerely regrets inconvenience caused due to this unforeseen situation. The aircraft is undergoing the necessary checks.”
Thus far, no other issues have been observed with the aircraft, which has flown for 15 years to locations such as Vienna, Vancouver, and Chicago. Any further updates will be shared, though Boeing did not immediately respond to the incident.
The Response to this Incident
After the fatal crash on June 12, earlier this year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has flagged multiple safety lapses at the airline, Air India has been under expected fire and intense scrutiny. When an investigation was conducted into one of the planes flying commercial flights without an airworthiness permit, the airline expressed the fact that it needed to improve compliance to address these various failures.
Nevertheless, in this incident, the aircraft landed safely back in Delhi after being originally headed for Mumbai. Those on board were also in safe hands, as modern aircraft are now designed to safely fly on a single engine, should the need arise. The DGCA has shared that extensive investigations will take place, though further news is sure to come.
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