San Francisco Bound Air India Flight Faces Extreme Delay Due to Tech Glitch

In the recent past, Air India and Aircraft On Ground (AOG) have developed an even closer relationship. Because of recent incidents, four aircraft are already on the ground. Yesterday, the airline’s flight from Mumbai to San Francisco faced such an extreme delay that passengers had to sit inside the aircraft cabin for approximately six hours, without being allowed to deboard.

Air India Flight Faces Delay

Yesterday, Air India Boeing 777-200LR registered as VT-AEI was getting ready to conduct flight AI 179 from Mumbai to San Francisco. Boarding for this ultra-long-haul flight was completed and the airliner was ready for pushback. It was only then that an issue arose in one of the aircraft engines.

The flight was originally expected to depart at 02:25 PM. The boarding was completed at 03:30 PM. Because of the technical issue, the crew asked the passengers to remain inside the aircraft. For more than six hours, the passengers had to sit inside the aircraft cabin, with a poor air conditioning system.

If you are wondering why airlines do not allow passengers to deboard, there are some reasons. One of the most common reasons is that the process of deplaning and then re-boarding takes a lot of time. There may be other factors as well like the airport might not have an available gate to accommodate a large number of deplaned passengers. In any way, sitting for six hours in an aircraft is traumatic.

Earlier, the BCAS issued guidelines regarding the deboarding of passengers in such cases. BCAS DG Zulfiqar Hasan said that both airlines and security agencies at airports are responsible for deboarding passengers if the delay is lengthy. If the airline does not allow the same, the security agency has the authority to implement the guidelines.

Traumatic Experience: Air India Issues Statement

Because of the unbearable heat, a few senior citizens fainted onboard. After this, the airline allowed some passengers to get out of the aircraft. Full disembarkation occurred at 09 PM. Reminding you that boarding was completed at 03:30 PM.

Regarding this incident, the airline has issued a statement. Just before the departure, a technical glitch was noticed, resulting in the delay. For this, the aircraft was sent to the maintenance department. Eventually, the flight was rescheduled to 10:30 hrs. All the passengers have been offered hotel accommodation and options for rescheduling. While at the airport, they were served refreshments by the airport staff members.

Air India has said that it was forced to reschedule the flight because of the night landing restrictions at San Francisco Airport. Furthermore, the Flight Duty Time Limitations for the pilots and cabin crew members were about to end, necessitating the requirement of new set of crew onboard.

This statement is a bit misleading. There is no such thing as a night curfew at San Francisco Airport. SFO allows the landing of all flights at night time. To reduce the noise impact, it has a voluntary program called ‘Nighttime Preferential Runway Use’. This encourages pilots to use flight paths and runways over water whenever possible between 10:00 PM & 07:00 AM. This does not mean that SFO do not allow landing at night.

Aircraft Involved

The aircraft involved in this incident is a 15-year-old Boeing 777, which is registered in India as VT-AEI. It is one of the five Boeing 777-200LRs acquired by Air India, which were formerly operated by American carrier Delta Airlines. This aircraft started its journey with Delta Airlines in 2009 and was retired in 2020.

It was expected to be converted to a freighter, but Jetran leased it to Air India under an agreement signed in late 2022. On 15 August 2023, it was ferried from Singapore to Delhi for the delivery flight. The airline has named this aircraft ‘Uday’.

In 2020, under its refurbishment program, Delta Airlines configured this aircraft with a new cabin. Air India has retained the same cabin with 28 Delta One Suites, 48 Premium Economy, and 212 Economy Class seats. The airline operates these five aircraft majorly between India and the United States of America (USA).

According to aviation-safety.net, this aircraft previously too suffered such engine issues. When operating for Delta Airlines, the aircraft was once flying from Johannesburg to Atlanta. After an issue in one of the engines, it had to make a precautionary landing at the island of Ascension. After landing, it hit a HiFly Airbus A330 on the ground during parking. This incident occurred in 2013.

Conclusion

Because of an issue with the aircraft engine, Air India’s flight from Mumbai to San Francisco had to be delayed and eventually, rescheduled. The passengers had to sit inside the aircraft cabin for more than six hours, resulting in the fainting of some senior citizens. After deboarding, the flight was rescheduled. All passengers were provided accommodation and refreshments.

What do you think about this incident onboard Air India? Discuss in the comment section.