AI Mumbai-SF flyers stuck in aircraft for 7 hours due to technical snag
Given the delay and the night landing restrictions in SF and the crew’s flight duty limitations, the flight has been rescheduled for 10:30 am on Saturday
MUMBAI: The Air India Mumbai-San Francisco flight (AI179) scheduled for 2:15 pm on Friday from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), failed to take off due to a malfunctioning engine and air conditioning system, said passengers who were kept seated for over seven hours in the aircraft, and finally deboarded at 9pm. Later in the evening, a spokesperson for AI confirmed the technical snag.
One of the passengers Abhishek Daga said, “The crew found a problem in the engine. As the ground staff worked on it, we sat without adequate cooling inside. The crew told us they were good to go at 4:30pm, but the problem with the air conditioning persisted. There was no food or drinks served through this time. The crew told us that drinks could be served only when the flight took off.”
He added, many “senior citizens started feeling uneasy, and that a lady suffered a drop in her blood pressure”. “We suffered from 2:30 pm to 9 pm. We were served a small paratha accompanied by some gravy and a cold drink at around 8.30 pm,” said Daga.
Pune resident Shubhada Phatak, a senior citizen who was travelling with her husband Gopal Phatak, to visit their son in San Francisco said, “We felt helpless. We have still not been told about alternate arrangements. I have a house in Mumbai which is under redevelopment. I don’t know how I will travel back to Pune with five pieces of luggage.”
The AI spokesperson said, “Giving top priority to safety issues, the aircraft was held back for engineering checks. As a few guests decided to discontinue the journey, including a flyer who was feeling unwell, the flight got further delayed as their baggage had to be offloaded from the aircraft.”
Given the delay and the night landing restrictions in SF and the crew’s flight duty limitations, the flight has been rescheduled for 10:30 am on Saturday, said the spokesperson.