ACs don’t work, passengers refuse to fly to Guwahati

NEW DELHI: Several passengers on a Guwahati-bound SpiceJet aircraft refused to fly on Thursday as the plane's air conditioners weren't working. Amid the searing heat and suffocation faced by 185 flyers on board SG 277 at the hottest time of the day, around noon, a woman passenger fainted.

"The plane was very hot and it was suffocating inside. We kept waiting for it to take off, but after an hour on the ground, one woman fainted and others complained of breathing trouble," said a passenger, Vikram Jalan.

Passengers said the flight crew tried to explain that the AC was not working as the aircraft had suffered a bird hit a day earlier. They assured the AC would start working once the plane took off. But some passengers, including Jalan, decided to get off.

A statement issue by SpiceJet said: "It was a wet-leased TVS aircraft (taken from another company with pilots to operate it) whose auxiliary power unit (that powers ACs) stopped working, while ground APU was ineffective in midday summer heat."

"The AC had started functioning while plane was taxing towards runway. One lady passenger complained about suffocation and the pilot brought back the aircraft to the bay. The lady and some other passengers also decided to de-board. Then plane took off with rest of the passengers to Guwahati safely. The plane was not airborne when this incident took place. SpiceJet deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to this technical snag," it added.