Around 150 flyers of Hyderabad-bound IndiGo flight wait inside aircraft for nearly 6 hours after technical snag delays takeoff

Time of India

21-05-2025

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Pune: Around 150 flyers of a
Hyderabad-bound IndiGo flight
from Pune spent nearly six hours inside the aircraft on Tuesday after a technical glitch delayed takeoff.
The passengers were later allowed to disembark as protests grew over the long wait.
The flight (6E-6473) was supposed to take off at 8.40 am and reach Hyderabad by 9.55 am. It later took off at 4.15 pm after a delay of nearly eight hours.
"The airline allowed flyers to deplane around 1.20 pm after protest from passengers. However, some passengers remained inside the aircraft after they received text messages from the airline that the flight would take off around 2pm. After some time, they received another message that the flight would take off around 4 pm following which all other passengers deboarded," said Ritesh Sharma, one of the passenegers on the flight.
He said that the boarding was completed around 8.20 am but the aircraft did not proceed for take-off. "The ground staffers first announced that some defence activities were on and hence there would be a delay of 20 minutes. After this, we were told that the runway area of the airport was facing some unusual bird activity and hence takeoff couldn't happen. This time, the delay extended beyond an hour," Sharma said.
He said the passengers were then told that the aircraft was short of fuel and needed refuelling.
"This was strange as the aircraft was ready for takeoff just around an hour ago. They took another hour for the same, but after that there was a technical issue with the aircraft. This continued till 1.10 pm," the flyer added.
Around 1.20 pm, many passengers grew restless and demanded that they should be allowed to deboard as their very purpose of going to Hyderabad had been defeated. "With tensions rising, the staffers opened the aircraft gate and allowed flyers to deboard.
However, many, including me, decided to wait inside the aircraft after we received text messages that the aircraft would take off at 2pm. However, at 2 pm, we got another message that the flight would take off at 4 pm.
This was too much for me and other passengers, and we all deboarded. I booked another flight to Hyderabad at 8.30 pm," Sharma said.
Vishal Damgude, another flyer, said that he decided to cancel his trip. "I have rescheduled my flight to Wednesday," he said.
"Flight 6E6473 from Pune to Hyderabad on May 20 was delayed due to a technical issue with the aircraft. An alternative aircraft was arranged to operate the flight and refreshments were served to customers during the wait time. We regret the inconvenience caused to our customers," an IndiGo spokesperson told TOI.
In another incident on Tuesday, flyers travelling to Bangkok on an Air India Express flight (IX-242) spent around an hour-and-a-half inside the flight waiting for it to take off.
The flight was set to take off at 8.50 am but flew from Pune at 10.20 am. "We all boarded the flight by 8.20 am. We were told that some defence activities and bird problems were the reasons for the delay," Ritesh Nahar, a flyer, said.
Pune: Around 150 flyers of a Hyderabad-bound IndiGo flight from Pune spent nearly six hours inside the aircraft on Tuesday after a technical glitch delayed takeoff.
The passengers were later allowed to disembark as protests grew over the long wait.
The flight (6E-6473) was supposed to take off at 8.40 am and reach Hyderabad by 9.55 am. It later took off at 4.15 pm after a delay of nearly eight hours.
"The airline allowed flyers to deplane around 1.20 pm after protest from passengers. However, some passengers remained inside the aircraft after they received text messages from the airline that the flight would take off around 2pm. After some time, they received another message that the flight would take off around 4 pm following which all other passengers deboarded," said Ritesh Sharma, one of the passenegers on the flight.
He said that the boarding was completed around 8.20 am but the aircraft did not proceed for take-off. "The ground staffers first announced that some defence activities were on and hence there would be a delay of 20 minutes. After this, we were told that the runway area of the airport was facing some unusual bird activity and hence takeoff couldn't happen. This time, the delay extended beyond an hour," Sharma said.
He said the passengers were then told that the aircraft was short of fuel and needed refuelling.
"This was strange as the aircraft was ready for takeoff just around an hour ago. They took another hour for the same, but after that there was a technical issue with the aircraft. This continued till 1.10 pm," the flyer added.
Around 1.20 pm, many passengers grew restless and demanded that they should be allowed to deboard as their very purpose of going to Hyderabad had been defeated. "With tensions rising, the staffers opened the aircraft gate and allowed flyers to deboard.
However, many, including me, decided to wait inside the aircraft after we received text messages that the aircraft would take off at 2pm. However, at 2 pm, we got another message that the flight would take off at 4 pm.
This was too much for me and other passengers, and we all deboarded. I booked another flight to Hyderabad at 8.30 pm," Sharma said.
Vishal Damgude, another flyer, said that he decided to cancel his trip. "I have rescheduled my flight to Wednesday," he said.
"Flight 6E6473 from Pune to Hyderabad on May 20 was delayed due to a technical issue with the aircraft. An alternative aircraft was arranged to operate the flight and refreshments were served to customers during the wait time. We regret the inconvenience caused to our customers," an IndiGo spokesperson told TOI.
In another incident on Tuesday, flyers travelling to Bangkok on an Air India Express flight (IX-242) spent around an hour-and-a-half inside the flight waiting for it to take off. The flight was set to take off at 8.50 am but flew from Pune at 10.20 am. "We all boarded the flight by 8.20 am. We were told that some defence activities and bird problems were the reasons for the delay," Ritesh Nahar, a flyer, said.