Dubai-Mangaluru Air India flight diverted; irate passengers protest at Kochi runway

Mangaluru: The Air India Express flight AIE 814 from Dubai en-route to Mangaluru was diverted to Kochi in the light of inclement weather here on Friday. The irate passengers aboard the flight protested against what they termed as apathy of Air India, at the runway there.

Flight AIE 814which was supposed to land here at 4:45 am had instead flown to Kochi where it touched down at 5.55 am. Up till alternative arrangements were made, the passengers were forced to wait within the aircraft till 11am. They were not provided with any facility at Kochi, complained the passengers bound for the city.

Many passengers were furious after being forced to miss their planned Eid celebrations with thier family. The passengers claimed that Air India staff had promised to take the flight back to Mangaluru within an hour, but to no avail. The air-conditioning system within the aircraft was switched off and was switched on only after a protest was held, they claimed.

It is understood that the poor visibility forced the diversion of the flight to Kochi since it was not possible to land the flight at MIA. Since the flight crew was awaiting the climate to clear off before the flight could take off, the flight was further delayed. However, the flight could not be resumed after the weather cleared as the duty hours of the crew had ended. Delay ensued as Air India Express had to get a new team of crew from Thiruvananthapuram for taking the aircraft back to Mangaluru.

It is learnt that, after the passengers refused to come to the arrival hall to have food and refresh themselves, the food was served in the aircraft. The passengers were also provided the facility to get seated inside four buses which were stationed near the aircraft, it is said. The allegation of having switched off the AC within the aircraft was denied by Air India sources.