A Go First flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai took off without 55 passengers, They were left stranded in a bus on the tarmac at Bengaluru airport. Image courtesy: Twitter
Bad air days continue for airlines in India. The Air India “pee-gate” has brought embarrassment and reports of drunk passengers and brawls have been hitting headlines regularly since. Amid all this, now a Go First flight “forgot” to board 55 passengers. The aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has sought a report from the airline on the incident.
What happened?
The Go First flight from Bengaluru to Delhi took off on Monday without 55 passengers. Flight G8116 departed at 6.30 am as scheduled but the flyers were stranded inside a bus on the tarmac. They had checked in their baggage, which was loaded into the aircraft, and were also issued boarding passes.
The incident came to light after passengers tweeted about it.
One of the passengers, Shreya Sinha, called the experience “most horrifying”. According to her, she along with other co-flyers boarded the bus for the aircraft at 5.35 am and remained inside for an hour.
“Most horrifying experience with @GoFirstairways, 5:35 am Boarded the bus for aircraft 6:30 am Still in bus stuffed with over 50 passengers, driver stopped the bus after being forced. Flight G8 116 takes off, leaving 50+ passengers. Heights of negligence!” Sinha wrote on Twitter.
Another passenger Satish Kumar said that the flight took off without passengers. “Is @GoFirstairways @JM_Scindia @PMOIndia operating in sleep? No Basic checks,” he tweeted, tagging Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office
How did the flight take off without passengers?
The passengers booked on Flight G8116 were being ferried from the terminal to the aircraft in four buses. The three buses had more than 50 passengers while the fourth had around five to six. The ground staff positioned near the aircraft were informed that the bus with the fewest passengers would be the last one, according to a report in The Indian Express.
Passengers from the fourth bus reached the aircraft and boarded while the other bus with 55 passengers was held up. The airline crew assumed that the fourth bus was the last one, announced that boarding was completed and then took off, leaving the 55 passengers stranded, the report says.
Who is to blame?
DGCA has sought a report from Go First about the incident. It issued a show-cause notice to the airline asking for a report within two weeks.
In its statement, DGCA said that “multiple mistakes” led to the incident. “… in the instant case, multiple mistakes such as lack of proper communication, co-ordination, reconciliation and confirmation have resulted in a highly avoidable situation.”
“However, to follow the principles of natural justice, they have been given two weeks time to submit their reply to DGCA and based on that further action will be taken,” the statement said.
What is the airline saying?
Go First has apologised for the incident. The airline in its statement said, “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of flight G8 116, from Bengaluru to Delhi.”
“The airline has decided to offer all affected passengers one free ticket for travel on any domestic sector in the next 12 months,” Go First said, adding it has also initiated an inquiry into the incident.
But what about passengers who missed the flight?
Fifty-three of the 55 passengers were shifted to another airline to Delhi and onward, according to media reports. Two passengers asked for a refund, which was paid by Go First.
With inputs from agencies
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