A Tirupati-bound SpiceJet flight developed mid-air snag on Sunday morning and had to be flown back to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Hyderabad within half an hour of take-off.
SpiceJet ATR Flight SG-1097 took off at 8.30 a.m. as per schedule. However, the aircraft made an emergency landing at the RGIA, reportedly following a technical glitch in the engine around 9 a.m. It had on board 70-odd passengers, including Andhra Pradesh Director-General of Police R. P. Thakur, who was going to Tirupati to receive Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
The CJI, along with his familyembers, arrived in Tirupati by Air India and offered prayers in Tirumala.
Confirming this to The Hindu , Mr Thakur said, “Yes, I was on board and the aircraft developed some snag and was flown back to Hyderabad.”
Another flight
Post-landing, passengers were accommodated on another flight, which reportedly took off at 11.45 a.m. and landed in Tirupati at 1.14 p.m. Many of them took to Twitter to report the inconvenience caused to them.
Responding to the complaint, the airline said: “Sorry for the trouble! We always try our best to maintain the departure time as per schedule. However, at times, due to unavoidable reasons, we face delay.” An official spokesperson of the airline confirmed that the flight returned to Hyderabad owing to a technical snag and landed safely at the RGIA.
Confirming this to The Hindu , Mr. Thakur said, “Yes, I was on board and the aircraft developed a snag and was flown back to Hyderabad. I was on an official trip to call on the CJ of India.”
Post-landing, all the passengers were accommodated on another flight, which reportedly took off at 11.45 a.m. and landed at the Tirupati airport at 1.14 p.m.
Several passengers took to Twitter to report the inconvenience caused to them.
Varun tweeted: “Worst airline services by @flyspicejet..flight from Hyderabad to Tirupati delayed by 2 hrs 5 min (as per staff at gate) no proper formal announcement by the staff regarding the delay...still waiting for the departure announcement.”
Responding to his complaint, the airline said: “Sorry for the trouble! We always try our best to maintain the departure time as per the schedule. However, at times, due to unavoidable reasons, we face delay.”
