Summary
- Winter flights in India face challenges with delays and cancelations due to fog.
- A passenger on a recent IndiGo flight from Delhi to Goa physically assaulted a pilot after a delay caused by fog, highlighting the heightened tensions during flight disruptions.
- Dense fog in Northern India has been causing flight disruptions, with airports issuing warnings and flights being diverted to alternative destinations due to poor visibility.
Flying during the winter months in India is a tricky time for both passengers and airlines. While carriers have to deal with flight delays, cancelations, and rescheduling, passengers’ patience is also tested when delays last for several hours. Still, under no circumstances should the interaction between airline employees and passengers escalate to physical assault. But that’s exactly what happened on a recent IndiGo flight.
Pilot assaulted
A passenger on a recent IndiGo flight from Delhi to Goa physically assaulted the pilot inside the aircraft after the flight was delayed by several hours due to fog. Flight 6E 2175 had a departure time of 07:40 but could only take off after more than 10 hours when foggy conditions in the city forced a delay.
A video circulating on social media shows a male passenger running up the aisle and hitting the pilot, who was making an announcement. The original flight crew that was supposed to operate the flight had to be replaced due to flight duty time limitations, and the pilot who was assaulted was part of the replacement crew.
Flights to Goa are mostly filled with holidaymakers trying to escape the northern winters for warm, sunny beaches. As such, a delay is not an ideal start. But while verbal altercations between airline employees and passengers are a common sight these days, physical assault is rarely witnessed. The passenger in question was eventually handed over to the authorities.
Flight disruption
Much of Northern India is in the grip of dense fog these days, and India’s largest airport in Delhi is often the worst affected during these times. As flights get delayed or canceled, aircraft also clog parking spaces. A recent Frankfurt-Delhi Air India flight took more than two hours to find parking space after landing as fog-related delays had forced several aircraft on the ground.
Photo: Komenton I Shutterstock
How Air India Passengers Can Rebook Flights Disrupted By Fog
New measures have been introduced for passengers at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Visibility was reduced severely in the last couple of days, with more than 160 flights delayed in Delhi, prompting the airport to issue an alert on social media, warning passengers to check with their airlines before arriving.
Delhi is one of many airports in the country dealing with low visibility. Recently, an IndiGo flight between Mumbai and Guwahati had to be diverted to Dhaka in Bangladesh as the plane couldn’t land in Guwahati due to poor visibility.
The aircraft was initially diverted to Kolkata, but poor weather conditions forced pilots to look for alternatives. The next best option was Dhaka, where the aircraft eventually landed. The situation, however, was slightly tricky as the domestic passengers of the flight suddenly found themselves in a foreign country without their passports. A new crew was eventually arranged, and the plane landed in Guwahati several hours later.
Has your flight also been affected by fog this winter? Please let us know in the comment section below.