India, Aug. 11 -- Senior Congress leader and Public Accounts Committee chairperson K C Venugopal on Sunday claimed that an Air India flight carrying him, several MPs, and other passengers "came frighteningly close to tragedy" en route from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi.

According to Venugopal, flight AI2455 faced severe turbulence shortly after take-off, and about an hour later, the captain reported a "flight signal fault" and diverted to Chennai. He alleged that during the first landing attempt, another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway, forcing the pilot to abort and circle before landing safely on the second attempt.

Air India, however, denied the runway conflict, saying the go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC due to weath...