Fly from Delhi to Bangalore, in 9hrs
First, the airconditioning system of the aircraft that left IGI developed a snag and the aircraft had to return soon after taking off.
By Saurabh Sinha, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Passengers onboard Indian Airlines��� IC 803 must have heaved a sigh of relief when their Airbus A-319 to Bangalore took off at its schedule time of 6.15am on Saturday as there were fears of the pilots��� stir affecting flights.
But little did they know that their two-and-a-half-hour journey to Bangalore would take almost nine hours because of a series of complications that started happening soon after take off from here.
First, the airconditioning system of the aircraft that left IGI developed a snag and the aircraft had to return soon after taking off. The airline arranged for another aircraft to take them to Bangalore. The alternate plane took off at 10.50am and then after taking off, it was realized that the Bangalore airport would be shut for repairs by the time this aircraft would approach the IT city.
So then the aircraft was diverted to Chennai. By the time, the plane landed there, the pilots had exhausted their flight duty time limitation , or simply put the maximum number of hours they can fly for. So now a hunt began to find a crew to take this aircraft to Bangalore , ironically on a day when pilots were reporting sick. Luckily for passengers, some able bodied, healthy pilots were found and the plane finally reached Bangalore at 3.15pm, while its original arrival time there was 8.45pm ��� a delay of over six hours.
The story did���nt end here. On a day when IA was hunting for pilots, the two pilots who had flown out of Delhi and then exhausted their flying hours had to get down at Chennai, further aggravating the shortage situation. So the pilots on IC 803 were not sick but the passengers must have got sick after their non-stop Delhi-Bangalore flight finally reached there after two unscheduled stops, in Delhi and Chennai.
But little did they know that their two-and-a-half-hour journey to Bangalore would take almost nine hours because of a series of complications that started happening soon after take off from here.
First, the airconditioning system of the aircraft that left IGI developed a snag and the aircraft had to return soon after taking off. The airline arranged for another aircraft to take them to Bangalore. The alternate plane took off at 10.50am and then after taking off, it was realized that the Bangalore airport would be shut for repairs by the time this aircraft would approach the IT city.
So then the aircraft was diverted to Chennai. By the time, the plane landed there, the pilots had exhausted their flight duty time limitation , or simply put the maximum number of hours they can fly for. So now a hunt began to find a crew to take this aircraft to Bangalore , ironically on a day when pilots were reporting sick. Luckily for passengers, some able bodied, healthy pilots were found and the plane finally reached Bangalore at 3.15pm, while its original arrival time there was 8.45pm ��� a delay of over six hours.
The story did���nt end here. On a day when IA was hunting for pilots, the two pilots who had flown out of Delhi and then exhausted their flying hours had to get down at Chennai, further aggravating the shortage situation. So the pilots on IC 803 were not sick but the passengers must have got sick after their non-stop Delhi-Bangalore flight finally reached there after two unscheduled stops, in Delhi and Chennai.
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