Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 21: Over 150 passengers were stranded for over five hours at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here Sunday after a New Delhi-bound Air India flight (AI 878) was grounded due to technical reasons.
The flyers had a harrowing experience at the domestic terminal T1 as they claimed they were ‘tormented’ by state-run flight staff because they refrained from informing them about the status of flight.
According to passengers, the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi flight was scheduled to take off for New Delhi at 9.40am but it was first rescheduled for 10.10am and then 1.40pm, thanks to some unknown technical snag.
AI sources said the aircraft developed some problem which was detected by station engineers. The team felt the aircraft was not fit for takeoff.
Meanwhile, AI had sought help of its headquarters after which a Bagdogra-New Delhi flight with a team of engineers and spare parts landed at BPIA at 1.30pm and left for New Delhi after a while.
It took another one-and-a-half hour for AI to fix technical glitches and declare the aircraft fit for flying.
The flight took off at 3.07pm after making passengers wait for over five hours.
As the flight was scheduled to take off at 9.40am, many passengers reached airport by 8.50am to get their boarding passes (45 minutes before departure).
The passengers had no advance information about the delay.
Chandigarh-based Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) junior scientist Debashree Das narrated her tale of woes to Orissa POST.
“I booked my bus ticket from Delhi to Chandigarh. I was shocked when I learnt that the flight is delayed indefinitely. I am sure, I will miss my Delhi-Chandigarh bus,” Das said.
Debashree’s father who had dropped her at terminal T1, Kshitij Das, a professor of Utkal University, lamented the AI has no information for its passengers amid prevailing foggy weather condition in Delhi.
A New Delhi-based Oriya doctor Rabi Narayan Kar who was travelling with his three relatives was infuriated over AI’s mismanagement.
“Many flyers had a jaw-dropping experience when they learnt about indefinite delay of their flight. They remained worried about their connecting international flights from New Delhi,” he claimed, adding refreshment was provided after flyers insisted Air India staff do so.
Passenger Meenakshi Kar echoed similar concern and said her faith on Air India has been shattered.
“We had to ensure every facility for the passengers including refreshment when the technical issues was being fixed by the engineers,” AI’s station manager Tapas Ranjan Ray said.
Meanwhile, another Air India flight New Delhi-Bhubaneswar-Port Blair was also delayed by over three years. Ray claimed only four passengers boarded the Port Blair flight from Bhubaneswar.
