A London-Delhi Air India flight made an emergency landing in Jaipur due to bad weather, and the pilot refused to fly it because of the delay. About 350 passengers were left stranded at the Jaipur airport for 5 hours and had to make alternative arrangements to reach Delhi.
A pilot of an Air India flight flying from London to Delhi, refused to fly the plane after it made an emergency landing in Jaipur due to bad weather conditions on Sunday. He cited flight duty time limitations and duty hours as the reason for his refusal.
Around 350 passengers, who had to seek alternative arrangements to reach Delhi, were stranded at the Jaipur airport for about three hours due to the pilot’s refusal.
The flight AI-112, originally scheduled to arrive in Delhi at approximately 4 am, was diverted to Jaipur as the weather conditions worsened at Delhi Airport. It circled in the sky for about 10 minutes before being diverted to Jaipur.
After about two hours, the London-bound flight received clearance to resume its journey to Delhi from the Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC), along with some other flights that were also diverted to Jaipur.
The pilot, however, declined to continue the flight and disembarked.
About 350 passengers, who were consequently stranded at the airport, were asked to look for alternative arrangements. After about three hours, some of them were transported to Delhi by road, while others were able to proceed to Delhi on the same flight after a replacement crew was arranged.
However, Air India, in its official statement, responded by saying that the London-Delhi AI112 flight was diverted to land at Jaipur at 4 am due to inclement weather and poor visibility in Delhi.
“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.