Air India deployed wrong aircraft for Vancouver; plane returned to Delhi

Air India mistakenly deployed an unapproved aircraft for Vancouver, prompting a seven-hour return to Delhi.

A Vancouver-bound Air India Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, after being airborne for over seven hours, returned to the national capital on Thursday (March 19, 2026) evening after it was found that the plane was not approved for operating the flight, according to sources.

An apparent lapse in updating the list of requirements for the operation of flights to Canada resulted in the situation, where a wrong aircraft was deployed for the particular service, sources said.

Without providing specific details, Air India, in a statement on Friday (March 20), said the aircraft had landed safely at the Delhi airport.

The flight was operated with Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft VT-AEI and was airborne for over seven hours. The plane turned back to Delhi when it was in the Chinese airspace, according to information available on the flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.

"Air India flight AI185, operating from Delhi to Vancouver on 19 March, returned to Delhi due to an operational issue and in line with established standard operating procedures. The aircraft landed safely, and all passengers and crew had disembarked," the airline said in a statement.

The sources said the flight should have been operated only with a Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, and there was no approval for flying the Boeing 777-200 LR plane.