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Passengers aboard Air India flight AI 504, scheduled to travel from Kochi to Delhi late Sunday, experienced an unexpected delay after the aircraft's take off was aborted due to a technical problem. The aircraft, an Airbus A321, later returned safely to the bay.

According to officials at Cochin International Airport, the flight crew detected the issue during the takeoff roll and immediately discontinued the attempt, following standard operating procedures. The aircraft was then taken for maintenance checks, and the airline arranged for a replacement plane.

A Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) spokesperson told news agency PTI that the rescheduled departure was set for 1:00 AM on Monday.

Lok Sabha member and Congress leader Hibi Eden, who was among those on board the flight, shared about the incident on social media. 

In a Facebook post, Eden said there was something unusual about Flight AI 504.

"Something unusual with this flight AI 504... it just felt like the flight skid on the runway... and hasn't taken off yet...," the Ernakulam MP said.

Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Mather, also on board, said in a post on social media that the pilot later announced that the Air India aircraft could not be used for travel.

"Now pilot announced...this aircraft cannot be used for travel. So, will be shifting passengers to another aircraft and approx by 1 am," Mather said.

An Air India spokesperson confirmed the incident in a statement, saying "Flight AI504 operating from Kochi to Delhi has been rescheduled to depart later this evening, necessitated by a technical issue detected during the take-off roll."

"The cockpit crew decided to discontinue the take-off run following standard operating procedures and brought the aircraft back to the bay for maintenance checks," the spokesperson added.

Details about the number of passengers on board the flight could not be immediately ascertained.

In its statement, Air India also apologised for the disruption and said: “All passengers have disembarked, and our ground teams at Kochi are assisting them.” The airline confirmed that the flight will proceed later in the night with a changed aircraft.

On Sunday, Air India said it cancelled its Milan-Delhi flight of August 16 after detecting a maintenance issue at the last minute.

"Flight AI138 operating from Milan to Delhi on August 16 was cancelled due to a maintenance task identified during pushback," the Air India statement said.

The incident added to a series of recent technical setbacks for Air India. Just last week, a Delhi-bound flight from Bhubaneswar was canceled due to unusually high cabin temperatures. On July 31, a Boeing 787-9 bound for London had to return to the bay at Delhi airport after a similar takeoff abort.