Alliance Air pilot abandons plane on Jaipur runway citing duty hours

The pilot of refused to fly due to duty limitations prescribed by the DGCA.

A pilot with Alliance Air abandoned his Jaipur-Delhi flight late Thursday saying his duty hours were over, leaving 40 passengers stranded at Sanganer aiport.

Some passengers of a Jaipur-Delhi flight had to travel to the capital by road after the pilot said he won’t fly since his duty hours were over. (FILE PHOTO OF JAIPUR AIRPORT)

Officials said some of the passengers were taken to Delhi by road while others were provided hotel accommodation and the rest were put on a flight on Friday morning.

“The pilot’s duty-time got over and therefore he could not take the flight,” said JS Balhara, director of Jaipur’s Sanganer airport.

He said the pilot cannot exceed duty hours for safety reasons as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms.

“The pilot and crew of a flight coming from Delhi was scheduled to take the flight (9I-644) from Jaipur to Delhi last night. But, the flight from Delhi was delayed and landed at Jaipur at 1.30 am,” a staff at the Air India station office said.

Alliance Air is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India.