CHAOTIC! Delhi-Pune flight delayed for 10 hours, passengers endure over 7 hour wait inside aircraft
By Deepu Mohan | First Published Jan 5, 2025, 10:45 AM ISTAir India Express flight IX-1176 from Delhi to Pune delayed by 10 hours, passengers made to wait 7.5 hours on board, deboard, and undergo security checks again before departing.
Pune: In a nightmare journey, over 200 passengers on board Air India Express flight IX-1176 from Delhi to Pune had to wait inside their flight for seven-and-a-half hours and then were made to deboard it and go through security checks again. Scheduled to depart at 9:40 pm on Friday, the flight was delayed for 10 hours, finally taking off at 7:30 am on Saturday.
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The ordeal began with a 30-minute delay, followed by an announcement citing fog and low visibility as the reason for the holdup. However, as the hours ticked by, passengers grew restless, with some senior citizens requesting to return to the terminal building to rest comfortably.
Despite assurances from the cabin crew, the plane remained grounded for over seven hours. At 5:30 am on Saturday, passengers were instructed to deboard, citing a technical issue with the aircraft. They were then shuttled to the terminal building, where they were required to undergo security checks once again.
In a surprising turn of events, passengers were eventually reboarded onto the same aircraft, which departed at 7:30 am. The flight finally landed in Pune at 10 am, over 10 hours behind schedule.
"The cabin crew members suddenly told us to deboard the plane at 5.30am on Saturday, stating that there was a technical problem in the aircraft. After coming out of the plane, we were huddled into buses. The vehicles moved around the area for a while and dropped us at the terminal building. Then we were told to go through the security check again. The whole thing took around two hours. Surprisingly, we boarded the same aircraft again," said Ambadas Gawande, a Pune resident who was flying with his family.
The delay was part of a larger disruption affecting flights in and out of Pune, with over 32 flights experiencing delays between midnight and noon on Saturday. The chaos was allegedly exacerbated by inadequate facilities at the new terminal building, leaving passengers to stand for hours or sit on carpets.
A passenger who witnessed the mayhem at the Pune airport took to social media, sharing a video of the crowded terminal building and expressing frustration at the lack of communication from airlines.
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