AI Flight That Made A Fuel Stop In Kolkata, But Never Took Off; Provided Hotels & Flights To Passengers

On Tuesday, a Mumbai-bound Air India flight from San Francisco was grounded at the Kolkata airport after a technical issue was detected in one of its engines. However, many passengers of Air India flight AI180 have alleged that they had to wait inside the aircraft for nearly five hours before the flight crew asked them to disembark. They further added that there was no proper communication from the airline. The airline officials denied this claim and shared that all the passengers were provided with refreshments, hotel accommodation, and alternative flights.

Passengers Claim They Had To Wait For 5 Hrs Inside The Aircraft

While talking to The Telegraph, many passengers on the San Francisco-Mumbai Air India flight that was grounded in Kolkata claimed that they were made to wait inside the aircraft for almost five hours before being permitted to disembark. The flight was carrying 228 people, 211 passengers and 17 crew members, and had stopped to refuel at the Kolkata airport. However, the flight never took off and the passengers were deplaned in Kolkata.

The airline said that the step was taken keeping in mind the safety of the passengers and that the aircraft was undergoing technical inspection. However, this affected the travel plans of many passengers. They mentioned that there was no proper communication by Air India and they had to wait for hours inside the aircraft. Others, however, were thankful that the snag was detected on time.

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Air India Reassures Flight Crew Took Proper Care Of Passengers In Kolkata

Air India officials reassured that despite the delay, they made sure that all the passengers were taken care of. He elaborated that while most of the stranded passengers were accommodated on other flights during the day, around 40 were put up in hotels across Kolkata. They were later flown to Mumbai on the airline’s evening flight from Kolkata.

He also told The Telegraph that all the passengers were “provided fruit juice, water and cookies on board.” When it was certain that the flight would not be able to fly as scheduled, Air India accommodated many passengers on flights to their destinations with other airlines.

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