After an Air India flight from London to Delhi made an emergency landing in Jaipur on Sunday due to bad weather, the pilot refused to fly the plane. He cited limitations on flight duty time and duty hours as the reason for his refusal.
Due to the pilot's refusal, 350 passengers were stranded at the Jaipur airport for approximately five hours and had to look for alternative transportation to Delhi.
As the weather worsened at Delhi Airport, flight AI-112, which was originally scheduled to arrive in Delhi around 4 a.m., was diverted to Jaipur. Before being diverted to Jaipur, it circled in the sky for approximately ten minutes. After around two hours, the London-bound flight got the leeway to continue its excursion to Delhi from the Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC), alongside a few different flights that were likewise redirected to Jaipur.
Taking to Twitter, one of the passengers stated: "Passengers of @airindia AI112 flying from London to Delhi have been diverted to Jaipur due to bad weather but passengers have not been assisted with any recourse to reaching their final destinations. @JM_Scindia please assist us urgently. We did manage to speak with @Ra_THORe despite which we have received no assistance from the authorities at #JaipurAirport."
Following the post, Air India reacted by claiming that their crew is 'doing its best' to lessen the passengers' discomfort. "Please stop making false promises!" the passengers reacted to the post.
However, the pilot disembarked and declined to continue the flight. As a result, 350 passengers were left stranded at the airport and asked to find alternative accommodations. Some of them were driven to Delhi after about three hours, while others were able to board the same flight after a replacement crew was hired.
The London-Delhi AI112 flight was, however, diverted to land at Jaipur at 4 a.m. due to inclement weather and poor visibility in Delhi, according to Air India's official statement.
"While the aircraft was waiting for Delhi weather to improve and take off, the cockpit crew came under FDTL, that is Flight Duty Time Limitations. Pilots cannot operate a flight once they come under the FDTL, as laid down by regulatory authorities. Air India accords top priority to safety of its passengers and crew and strictly adhering to the operations regulations, immediately arranged a fresh set of crew to operate the flight," said the airline.
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