SpiceJet flight's passengers sit in aircraft for 3 hours in Delhi, reach Pune 4 hours late
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Pune: Around 150 passengers of SpiceJet's Delhi-Pune flight (SG-477) reached their destination around 9.30pm on Friday, almost four hours behind the schedule and after sitting in the stationary aircraft in the national capital for about three hours.
The flight was scheduled to depart from Delhi at 3.25pm and reach the city at 5.35pm. It was initially rescheduled to 4.50pm. The boarding started at 4.30pm, but the aircraft was airborne only around 7.30pm. Flyers remained seated in the static aircraft for almost three hours. They touched down in Pune around 9.30pm.
SpiceJet denied that passengers were kept seated in the plane for three hours. "SpiceJet flight SG 477, scheduled to operate from Delhi to Pune on May 30, 2025, was delayed because of a last minute technical issue with the aircraft.
Passengers were assisted throughout and were served with refreshments. Passengers were not kept onboard for three hours," a SpiceJet spokesperson told TOI.
Puranjay Kumar Rana, a passenger of the flight, differed. "Until around 7.25pm, all flyers sat in the aircraft and were frustrated. It can't be possible that the airline realised that there was an issue with the aircraft after boarding. The flight was already delayed by an hour and checks must done much earlier."
Rana said the cabin crew kept on saying that the aircraft would fly in 10 minutes. "After sitting in the aircraft for more than an hour, flyers began to lose their patience. The cabin crew, too, got frustrated and told many flyers that it was not their fault and why were we getting angry at them?" the flyer said.
"There have been so many cases of airlines keeping passengers seated in the aircraft. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the civil aviation ministry should take some steps on this," Rana said.
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