The passengers of a Jet Airways flight from the city to Jaipur want the airline to apologise because, they claim, the co-pilot spoke mistruths about not getting clearance from the air traffic control ATC, which resulted in a 2.5 hour delay in take-off. They allege that the real reason for the delay was that there was no senior pilot in the cockpit.
The passengers of a Jet Airways flight from the city to Jaipur want the airline to apologise because, they claim, the co-pilot spoke mistruths about not getting clearance from the air traffic control ATC, which resulted in a 2.5 hour delay in take-off. They allege that the real reason for the delay was that there was no senior pilot in the cockpit.
The carrier, for its part, maintained that the flight 9W 416 (Mumbai-Jaipur) was delayed due to 'operational reasons', without elaborating further.
Advocate Mehmood Abdi, a frequent flier and vice-president of Rajasthan Cricket Association, said, "The flight was scheduled to leave Mumbai at 6.30pm but it was grounded as there was no senior pilot (first officer) available. All along, the second officer (co-pilot) and the crew kept lying to the passengers that non-clearance from ATC was the reason for the delay."
The passengers claim that there were children and old people aboard, who were getting increasingly uncomfortable; commotion ensued inside the aircraft. Eyewitnesses said that after a business-class passenger left the plane in a huff, about two dozen agitated passengers went to the aerobridge and sought to deplane, but were stopped by the security staff, who said that deplaning was a long procedure involving offloading of luggage, which required the permission of the duty manager, who was not available.
"While passengers were shouting and screaming, there was an inaudible and static-y announcement from the cockpit. I requested the flight executive to increase the volume. Then the second officer, for the first time, announced the absence of the senior pilot in the cockpit," said Abdi.
The passengers alleged the announcement had the second officer attributing the delay to another delayed incoming flight, due to which the pilot overshot his duty hours, and so the senior pilot refused to fly the 9W 416 flight.
The flight to Jaipur finally departed around 9pm. The passengers claim that Jet Airways crew did not even bother to serve water. The snacks and beverages were served only after the flight took off.
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