An Indigo airline from Raipur to Bhopal carrying 65 passengers’ onboard landed back safely at Swami Vivekananda Airport (SVA) here within few minutes after the take-off on Thursday evening. The flight was later declared as AOG (Aircraft on Ground) following its inspection, leading to its cancellation. The flight 6E7371 (RPR-BHO) took off around 1730 hours and landed back safely within 27 minutes at 1757 hours. A technical glitch is stated to be the reason for the aircraft’s return. Most importantly, the airlines also responded very judiciously to the passengers of affected flight by availing some of them with full refund, while extending hotel accommodations to others and several individuals were given full-access exquisite lounge services.

 

The passengers were fully delighted by the airline’s response to their unforeseeable distress. “When the flight took off from Raipur, there was no problem at all. However, after 27 minutes, the alert pilot detected the technical glitch and swiftly took the call to turn back since it was still in the vicinity of Raipur. The pilot immediately alerted the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) authorities and landed at SVA. We were informed by the airline’s staff that there was a technical problem in the aircraft, which prompted the pilot to turn back the plane,” knowledgeable sources at Airports Authority of India (AAI) manning the operations at Raipur Airport told ‘The Hitavada’.

 

Sources, in the meantime, also averred that immediately after landing in Raipur, all passengers of the aircraft were de-boarded and the aircraft was sent for inspection at parking bay no-6. “Post the inspection of the aircraft, the airline’s engineers declared the plane as AOG, followed by its cancellation. Subsequently, the same flight, which becomes 6E-7302 on its return from Bhopal to Raipur and later turns 6E-7249 connecting Raipur to Hyderabad, was also cancelled,” the sources revealed. Meanwhile, according to eye-witnesses, the passengers of the cancelled flight upon getting prompt attention and response from the airlines through various facilities, including connecting flight facility, full refund, hotel accommodation and premium lounge access, thanked Indigo authorities. They also clicked their pictures inside the terminal building with smiling faces and messages of ‘thanks’ towards Indigo airlines.