AI fliers stranded by snag, engine trouble

According to Air India authorities, the Pune-Delhi (AI 854) flight was supposed to depart from Lohegaon airport at 9 pm on Thursday. Passengers were told the flight was delayed by an hour as the Delhi-Pune flight had been delayed due to a technical snag. At 10 pm, they were told the flight will take off only at 12.30 am.

“At 12.30 am, we observed that pilots and the flight crew were leaving the premises. There was no announcement on part of the airline. When we inquired, we got to know unofficially that the flight will only take off on Friday as the defect could not be resolved. It was horrible on part of the authorities to keep us in the dark. Most of us were still at the airport till 3.30 am as there was no proper communication from the airlines,” said Anand Rekhi, a Delhi businessman visiting his home in Pune for polls.

The delay, according to passengers, led to inconvenience – especially for women and children – who stayed awake the entire night. “Although they arranged accommodation for us, we were awake till 4 am. The airport had no space in the child care centre and women who were with children suffered a lot,” said Anupriya Kumari, travelling with her 18-month-old baby.

The airlines asked the passengers to return on Friday morning and said the flight will depart at 12.30 pm. The passengers reached by 11 am but were told the flight will take off at 3.30 pm.

“We boarded by 3 pm and it took off at 3.39 pm. It was a smooth take off. But once we were in air, we heard loud, thundering noises from the engine. This created panic among passengers. We were later told that the flight will be grounded again due to technical defect in the engine,” said Jitendra Kumar, a passenger who works for a multinational software company.

The passengers said they were told a new aircraft will be arranged fo r them  but  till late in the evening the flight did not take off.

“They told us they arranged for a new aircraft which was supposed to come from Mumbai and depart for Delhi with us at 6.30 pm. But at 6.30 we were told that no pilot was available to fly the aircraft. Now they are talking about arranging an aircraft from Delhi. We don’t know when that will happen. We are staring at another night stay at the airport,” said Rekhi.

“This is unimaginable on the part of Air India. This only shows unprofessional attitude. Who would’ve been responsible had we lost our lives?” asked Rekhi.

AAI officials said they may take action against AI for causing inconvenience to passengers and risking their lives. Air India’s Station Manager for Pune Airport Dhairyasheel Vandekar was unavailable for comment.

Passengers recount ordeal

Passengers  of Air India flight (AI 854) decried the “mismanagement” and “casual attitude” of the country’s national carrier. Some of them recounted their “unimaginable inconvenience”.

Anupriya Kumari, travelling with her 18-month-old baby and four other family members, said the apathy of the crew was the worst part. “I did not take milk with me for the baby because as per schedule we should have reached home in Delhi by midnight and I could have fed him before he slept. The plane did not take off at the scheduled time and we were not informed about the delay. The childcare centre at the airport was full and I had no proper place to sit with a baby. I kept asking the crew for milk but they did not respond. This is one of the worst experiences in my life,” she said.

Anand Rekhi, director of MT Group of Companies, said he suffered loss of business due to wastage of an entire working day. “I could have stayed back in Pune till Monday but I left for Delhi as I had an important meeting on Friday. That’s why I planned to fly urgently to Delhi. The fiasco not only caused me emotional trouble but also loss of business,” said Rekhi.

Vishal Pandhare, a passenger, said, “We understand that technical glitches may happen. But it’s shocking that India’s national carrier handles them so casually. Had the pilot not taken the right decision, all 183 passengers could have lost their lives.”     (ENS)