Big stink on Air India flight

Passengers on board Thursday’s Air India (AI) flight 311 from Hong Kong to Mumbai, via Delhi, were forced to travel under unhygienic conditions when the aircraft took off with two of its toilets blocked and unfit for use.

Besides the stench, dirty water leaking from the toilets also made the flight a harrowing experience for the 151 passengers travelling by economy class. However, AI said that they operated the flight under minimum permissible rules as they did not want to delay passengers.

“Before the flight could take off we got to know that two of the six toilets in the economy class were unusable. In spite of that the flight took off on time at 4pm,” said an AI cabin crew member from Delhi, speaking on condition of anonymity. As the flight was veering for take off, water from the choked toilet leaked into the passenger area.

“There was a group of 34 Chinese passengers who protested and asked to be let off the flight. But the flight still proceeded,” she said. Long queues formed in front of the four functioning toilets, with some passengers requesting that they be allowed to use the toilet in the executive class, she added.

To add to the passengers’ woes, six of the eight ovens in the economy class were also not working. This caused a delay in serving food as the crew had to use the two ovens in the executive class to heat the meals.

There was an AI engineer on board but to no avail. “The engineer said he could do nothing as there were no spare parts or equipment available,” says a source from AI.
When contacted, the AI spokesperson said that there were certain problems on the plane but the flight was operated within the permissible limits. “If we had cancelled the flight it would have inconvenienced all the passengers,” he said.