New Delhi, Aug. 11 -- The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday released a statement on the diversion of Air India flight AI2455 Thiruvananthapuram - Delhi on August 10, following Congress MP KC Venugopal described it as "frighteningly close to tragedy."

The DGCA said that the diversion was due to bad weather and the crew suspected a weather RADAR malfunction. The flight circled over Chennai to burn extra fuel and it aborted first landing attempt at Chennai as instructed by ATC after a departing Gulf Air flight reported debris on runway. Upon landing, the engineering inspection found no deficiency but as a precautionary measure, the radar transreceiver of the aircraft was replaced, the DGCA said in a statement today.

"O...