Snag, crew duty time limit delay US-bound Air India flight from Mumbai by 16 hours

Over 300 passengers travelling to Newark in New Jersey, United States, on an Air India flight, were stranded at Mumbai airport on Friday for more than 16 hours,

Over 300 passengers travelling to Newark in New Jersey, United States, on an Air India flight, were stranded at Mumbai airport on Friday for more than 16 hours, after their flight was delayed multiple times.

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Flight AI 191, with 316 passengers on board, was first scheduled to take off at 1.30am on Friday. However, owing to a technical snag, the flight delayed by 12 hours. “The departure of AI 191 from Mumbai to Newark has been delayed due to a technical glitch. The revised departure from Mumbai is 1330 (1.30pm) hours (local time). Inconvenience is sincerely regretted,” the airline tweeted.

However, passengers had to wait for three more hours before the flight could take off, as the airline revised its departure time again owing to crew duty time restriction. As per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms, crew members cannot exceed their duty hours. The flight finally took off at 5.50pm.

Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said, “The flight was delayed due to a technical error in the aircraft. However, by the time the glitch could be rectified, the flight duty time limit of the crew exceeded. All the passengers were provided with accommodation and were taken care of.”

Passengers took to social media and alleged the airline’s mismanagement and miscommunication led to severe chaos at the airport. “Horrible mismanagement on your end. Unreal and not flying with you anymore!” tweeted a passenger, Sagar Bora.