New Delhi: In a pitiable situation, several passengers fainted aboard a delayed San Francisco-bound flight at the Delhi Airport, after they were left without AC for at least eight hours amid an intense heatwave in the national capital. The incident happened on Thursday as the Air India Flight AI 183 was delayed by at least 20 hours to the anguish of flyers, which means it will take off on Friday.
After flyers boarded the plane, they were told that the flight was delayed by eight hours. The passengers were kept without AC for that time period amid the scorching heat that has gripped Delhi, as a result of which some of them fainted. After the passengers expressed their anguish, they were deplaned from Air India flight 183 and were reportedly given accommodations till it was ready for takeoff on the next day.
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Meanwhile, passengers took to social media platform X to express their displeasure over the flight delays amid the intense heatwave. "If there is a privatisation story that has failed it is @airindia @DGCAIndia AI 183 flight has been delayed for over 8 hours , passengers were made to board the plane without air conditioning, and then deplaned after some people fainted in the flight.This is inhuman!" wrote Shweta Punj, a journalist, tagging Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
"Dear Ms. Punj, we truly regret to note the disruptions. Please be rest assured that our team is actively working to address the delay and appreciate your ongoing support and understanding. We are also alerting our team to provide necessary assistance to the passengers," Air India responded to her post.
Another passenger, Abhishek Sharma, said the passengers were taken to a hotel at 2 am and a new boarding pass was issued with the departure time of 11 am. "Parents are back at the airport and it seems even this flight is cancelled. No one from @airindia is helping!" he said.
Notably, Delhi is currently sweltering with maximum temperatures soaring close to 50 degrees Celsius. Large parts of northern and central India continue to remain in the grip of a sweltering heatwave, and cities across Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh sizzled at maximum temperatures in excess of 47 degrees Celsius with Rohtak and Prayagraj logging 48.8 degrees. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that temperatures exceeded 45 degrees Celsius at 41 locations across the country on May 30. In Delhi, Safdarjung recorded 45.6 degrees, Palam 46.4 degrees, Ridge 46.7 degrees, and Ayanagar reached 47.0 degrees.
