Chennai: More than 200 IndiGo passengers heading from Chennai to Singapore were left stranded inside the aircraft for nearly five hours on Tuesday, longer than the actual flight duration, due to fluctuations in cabin temperature and pilot duty-hour restrictions. As frustration mounted, tempers flared onboard. A video showing passengers shouting at airline staff in anger and desperation quickly went viral.The aircraft (No 6E1025) was scheduled to depart from Chennai International Airport at 7.30am. Passengers were allowed to board from 6.30am, but the flight did not take off at the scheduled time. This sparked anxiety among passengers. A one-minute video, filmed by a passenger and circulated on social media, shows several flyers complaining about erratic air-conditioning and feeling suffocated inside the aircraft. “There was no clear explanation and no transparent communication. The cabin air conditioning repeatedly switched on and off. Infants, children, elderly passengers and working professionals were onboard. Passengers who requested to deboard due to discomfort were not permitted to do so for a considerable period,” a passenger posted on social media.Some passengers alleged they were threatened with intervention by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. They also said the pilot who boarded the flight left in the middle of the delay, citing work-hour restrictions, and another pilot reported for duty at 11am before the flight took off at 12 noon.IndiGo sources, however, maintained that passengers were updated on the situation from time to time and were provided with refreshments. Its official response was that the pilot noticed the cabin temperature was above normal and informed the engineering team, and that the cockpit crew’s duty hours exceeded the flight duty time limitations (FDTL) before the issue was fixed. “We had to arrange an alternative crew, which took time,” the response said.
