Passengers of an Air Costa flight underwent some tense moments after the flight developed a technical snag a few minutes before it was to take off from the Vijayawada airport on Wednesday night.
The 67-seater was supposed to take off around 4.30 p.m. but was delayed by almost two hours. The crew closed the door for the flight to taxi to the runway but the pilot noticed a technical snag when he switched on one engine of the twin-engine aircraft.
The flight was immediately brought back, the 65 Chennai-bound passengers were on the edge of panic, airport officials said.
According to Directorate-General of Civil Aviation rules, the crew should not open the door when the engine is on.
On learning that the aircraft developed a snag, passengers first requested the crew to open the door, but the latter did not oblige, citing the rules. A few panic-stricken passengers allegedly tried to force open the door but to no avail.
A few minutes after the pilot switched off the engine, the cabin crew opened the door enabling the passengers to disembark.
“We brought them to the terminal building and made alternative arrangements to send them to Chennai,” said airport director M. Rajkishore. Passengers alleged that the airline forced them to stay in the aircraft without even switching on air conditioners. “It was a really horrible experience,” said one passenger.
