CHENNAI: A Chennai-Delhi flight was delayed by more than 10 hours on Friday after its pilot noticed a technical snag just before takeoff at the Chennai airport.
The pilot of an Air India flight to Delhi, scheduled to depart with 164 passengers at 10 am, noticed a hydraulic problem in the aircraft when the plane was on the runway, ready for takeoff, and alerted the ATC. The flight was pulled back to the bay and its passengers herded into the waiting hall at the airport. Initially, the airline announced the flight would take off at 12 noon and later updated it to 5 pm and then to 8 pm.
This led to an argument between the passengers and the airline staff, forcing the airport officials and the airline’s higher authorities to intervene. Finally, the passengers who were travelling in an emergency were allowed to transfer their tickets to other flights; around 120 such passengers were accommodated on Indigo and Vistara flights. At the time of filing this report, the Air India flight was expected to depart to Delhi with around 40 passengers after a delay of more than 10 hours.