Passengers who had to fly from Mangaluru to Dubai by a SpiceJet flight in the early hours of Wednesday had to wait for more than 16 hours in the city to take off after the pilots reported sick with malaria.
The flight, SG 59, was scheduled to leave at 12.45 a.m. However, it took off at 5 p.m.
Hence, the number of passengers came down from the initial 188 to about 30 as many of them either cancelled or rescheduled their travel plans.
When the pilot who had to fly as per the original schedule reported sick, the airlines announced a delayed departure.
When immediate replacement was not available, the flight was rescheduled at 7 a.m. and the passengers were accommodated in a city hotel.
The trouble did not end there. The second pilot rostered for the rescheduled flight too reported sick with malaria.
Later, the flight took off with another pilot at 5 p.m., airline sources said.
In a statement, a SpiceJet spokesperson said: “SpiceJet Flight SG 59 (Wet lease Boeing aircraft operated by Corendon Airlines for SpiceJet) of August 1, 2018 from Mangaluru to Dubai had to be rescheduled as the Corendon Airlines pilot reported sick after being diagnosed with malaria. The flight’s departure was rescheduled and the affected passengers were immediately moved to a hotel. SpiceJet apologises for the inconvenience caused to passengers.”