An Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai with 228 people on board was grounded at Calcutta airport on Tuesday after a technical snag was detected in the aircraft that had stopped to refuel.
Several passengers of AI180 alleged that they had to wait inside the aircraft for nearly five hours before being allowed to disembark. They also claimed that there was no proper communication from Air India officials.
Some passengers, who were anxious about flying following the crash of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad that killed 241 onboard, said they were relieved that the snag was detected before the plane took off for Mumbai.
Air India said most of the stranded passengers were accommodated on other flights during the day. Forty flyers, who were put up in hotels across the city, were flown to Mumbai on the airline’s evening flight from Calcutta.
The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, carrying 211 passengers and 17 crew members, had landed at Calcutta airport at 12.47am on Tuesday, airport officials said.
“The AI180 flight operates from San Francisco to Mumbai and has a technical halt at Calcutta airport. The flight was scheduled to depart at 2am,” an airport official said.
The airline said a technical issue was detected during pre-takeoff checks.
Sources said a snag had developed in the left engine of the aircraft.
Till Tuesday night, the aircraft was stationed in aparking stand of the airport.
Several passengers complained of having to sit for five hours inside the aircraft without any official communication.
“We initially knew it to be a refuelling stop but the wait continued way beyond the scheduled time. The time kept on extending, and finally we were deplaned around 5.15am. We understand there can be a technical snag, but there was no proper information available to us,” said Kalpana Vijay Satra. Kalpana was travelling to Mumbai with her husband after a one-month stay at their children’s home in Canada and California.
Kalpana’s husband, Vijay Satra, said the airline lacked proper training in “crisis management”.
“After the Ahmedabad accident, all passengers were relieved that there was no risk taken (on Tuesday) and we were safe. But we were not given any reason why the flight was cancelled. Also, the airline or the staff was not equipped to handle such a crisis, and they were unable to provide information,” Vijay, a chartered accountant, said.
The flight was scheduled to reach Mumbai at 4.30am on Tuesday, but the passengers had to get off at Calcutta airport at 5.30am and spend another five to six hours there before being shifted to a hotel.
“After disembarking at Calcutta, we should have got some clarity on our next flight, but there was chaos instead,” said Ganesh Hariharan, who had a flight to catch to Chennai from Mumbai at 8.30am.
“Missing a day means a lot for people who are on a 10-day visit to family. I have a function to attend in Chennai on Wednesday,” said Hariharan. The airline booked him on a 7pm flight to Chennai from Calcutta.
“The chaos at the airport could have been avoided if we had been told when our next flight was scheduled. Instead, we were made to run from one end of the airport to the other,” he said.
An Air India official denied the allegations.
“When passengers of an international flight are stranded at an airport where they are not scheduled to get down, immigration and customs clearances are required for them to be taken off the plane,” the official said.
“The passengers of AI180 were provided fruit juice, water and cookies on board. Around 4am, when the engineering team decided that it would take longer to address the technical issue, the passengers were deplaned,” he said. “There were many passengers who had to take flights to Ahmedabad and Surat from Mumbai. They were accommodated on flights to those destinations of other airlines.”
He said 40 passengers were taken to hotels. “To accommodate them, we operated a bigger aircraft for the Calcutta-Mumbai flight in the evening,” he added.
The AI180 has been stopping at Calcutta airport for refuelling since Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian flights.
Many flights bound for Europe, the UK and the US have been taking detours, resulting in an increase in flight time.