Many left stranded on tarmac as storm delays flight by 7 hrs

NEW DELHI: While Sunday evening’s thunderstorm disrupted flight operations at IGI airport and led to over 70 flights being diverted, passengers on one flight heading to Bangalore from Delhi were kept waiting for over seven hours in the flight due to non-availability of crew, sources said.

IndiGo’s Delhi to Bangalore flight 6E 2977, which was supposed to take off at 10.40pm on Sunday, finally took off nearly seven hours later with passengers first having to wait in the shuttle and then inside the aircraft and on the tarmac as well.

Officials said this was not the only flight that was affected as the thunderstorm had thrown scheduling out of gear with a number of flights being delayed, cancelled or diverted.

Passengers of the airline, meanwhile, took to Twitter to express their displeasure over the confusion. “DEL-BLR 6E2977 delayed by over 7 hours (22:40 to 6:40). Kept us like cattle in the bus. And then like dogs on the asphalt of the runway. Peanuts and Frooti offered at 6.00am. Not allowed to get on flight (sic),” said a Tweet from Pranith Alagwadi, a passenger.

IndiGo officials, however, said the problem was primarily due to weather conditions, during which time a number of crew members had to be reshuffled as they had completed their duty time.

“In total, IndiGo had 30 diversions due to extreme severe weather conditions which led to massive delays and cancellations across all airlines. IndiGo regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers. Our communication lines and staff at the airports are assisting all passengers affected by flight delays and cancellations,” said an IndiGo spokesperson, adding that slots for a number of pilots were changed.

Passengers on an IndiGo flight to Guwahati last week had a similar experience after it reportedly arrived late at the airport, following which there was no pilot available as he had gone out of flight-duty time. The flight which got delayed for over five hours also saw passengers exiting and protesting on the taxiway before another pilot was arranged.