Kolkata: All passengers deplaned as Air India flight grounded after technical issue

KOLKATA: An Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai, with a scheduled stop in Kolkata, was grounded on Tuesday after a technical issue was suspected during a routine post-landing inspection. All passengers were safely deplaned, and some have been accommodated in a hotel in Kolkata.

While speaking to reporters, passengers expressed mixed reactions to the incident. Heena Shah, a passenger from Mumbai, appreciated the services provided by the airline, saying, “They gave us good food. They gave all services to us…”

Another passenger, Preeti Sharma said that the airline has informed her that the update and other information will be communicated to her through messages. She told reporters that she had booked the ticket in January. “Our flight is being booked. I had booked my tickets (on San Francisco-Mumbai flight) in January…”

However, some passengers felt there was a lack of clarity regarding their onward journey. Another passenger, said, “We could have had more clarity in terms of when is our next flight and all that. But there was a lot of chaos…But they did provide us breakfast and all that. It took some time for them to sort out everything but by then there was some chaos that could have been avoided. After that, they have given us a hotel…We were in the aircraft for 4-5 hours. They were trying to fix the issue, the pilot was communicating…After a couple of hours, they said that they are not able to fix, so we are going to deplane. That is all that happened…”

The passenger added, “These technical snags happen, it is part of flying. I have travelled international many times and I have seen this in multiple airlines. This is not an Air India thing, it’s a technical snag. I had booked my ticket 2-3 weeks ago…My next flight is at 7 pm today…”

Another passenger shared their experience. There was a delay, and they thought it was a normal refilling process. There was no panic among the passengers. Passengers were also offered refreshments.

“After 5 hours, we had to deplane. They said that the left engine was not working…They gave us food, kids were running around inside. We thought that it was just normal refuelling, but the delay kept going on for 5 hours…”

Earlier in the day, it was reported that an Air India flight operating from San Francisco to Mumbai, with a scheduled stop in Kolkata, underwent a mandatory post-landing inspection upon arrival in Kolkata. During this routine check, a technical issue was suspected. Consequently, as a precautionary measure, all passengers were safely deplaned. (ANI)