Chennai: Nearly 200 passengers on an IndiGo flight from Chennai to Singpore were were forced to wait inside the plane for close to five hours. The incident happened on Tuesday.
While the waiting time exceeded the actual flight time, the sme led to anxieties among passengers. A video has gone viral in which passengers can been seen arguing with airline staff.
IndiGo releases statement
Releasing a statement, IndiGo said that flight 6E 1025 had to return to the bay after a minor technical problem was found. We regret the inconvenience caused to our customers and did our best to minimise it by offering refreshments and sharing timely updates. At IndiGo, the safety of our customers and crew is our top priority,” the IndiGo statement said.
The aircraft later departed after the airline deployed an alternate crew. The passengers, however, painted a different picture on social media. In a video that circulated, a passenger can be heard saying that the authorities did not offer any explanations for the reason behind the delay.
Boarding began an hour before departure time
According to ‘The Times of India’, the flight number 6E1025 was to take off at 7:30 am. The boarding began an hour back with all passengers seated before the departure time. However, at the time of the departure, the plane did not move, and passengers were forced to wait inside the flight for a long time, resulting in frustration.
Some passengers also claimed that the original pilot left the aircraft midway amid a delay, citing duty-hour restrictions. They added that the replacement pilot arrived at around 11 am, as per the report. The flight took off for Singapore close to noon.