Date:15/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/15/stories/2006101502711000.htm

National

Air India passengers arriving today

London: More than 300 passengers of a Mumbai-bound Air India flight have been stranded here for three days after the Boeing 747-400 was grounded at the Heathrow airport following a bird-hit.

The New York-London-New Delhi-Mumbai flight with 434 passengers returned to Heathrow within 20 minutes of taking off on Thursday night following what officials said was a "technical fault" that forced the pilot to dump fuel before landing.

An Air India spokesperson in Mumbai told PTI on Saturday that 96 passengers were flown by a relief aircraft to New Delhi via Ahmedabad. "The remaining 338 have been accommodated in various hotels near the Heathrow airport," the spokesperson said. — PTI