Air India sent a Vancouver-bound flight back to Delhi after departing with what Indian media described as the “wrong” Boeing 777 variant for entry into Canada, forcing a costly mid-route U-turn after several hours in the air.
The airline confirmed that Flight AI185 returned to Delhi on March 19, 2026, due to an “operational issue” and said the aircraft landed safely.
According to multiple Indian outlets, the aircraft operating as Flight AI185 was a Boeing 777-200LR, while Air India’s approval for service into Canada covers its Boeing 777-300ER fleet and not the LR variant. The mistake was reportedly discovered only after the aircraft had flown for more than four hours and reached Chinese airspace near Kunming.
Times of India reported that the aircraft departed Delhi at 11:34 local time on March 19 and landed back in the Indian capital at 19:19, after nearly nine hours of total flying time.
Air India did not publicly confirm the widely reported explanation in its statement. Instead, a spokesperson said only that AI185, operating from Delhi to Vancouver, “returned to Delhi due to an operational issue and in line with established standard operating procedures.”
The airline said the aircraft landed safely, all passengers and crew disembarked, and ground teams provided assistance including hotel accommodation while efforts were made to send passengers onward to Vancouver as quickly as possible.
Air India added that the flight departed again for Vancouver the following morning with the affected passengers.
International operating permissions can be tied not just to an airline, but also to specific aircraft types, fleets, or even individual tail numbers, depending on the destination country’s regulatory process. In this case, the reported problem appears to have been with an aircraft-assignment error involving the two different Boeing 777 variants.