Snag delays Doha-Kochi AI flight by 20 hours

As one more Air India flight from Gulf to India is abnormally delayed, non-resident Indians have launched a campaign against the airline. 

Two days after the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight drama in which the woman pilot sounded a false hijack alert against protesting passengers, another Air India flight from the Gulf was delayed by as many as 20 hours. 

A technical snag and bad weather resulted in a Doha-Kochi flight reaching its destination almost 20 hours after scheduled time. 

According to reports quoting airline sources, the Bahrain-Doha-Kozhikode-Kochi flight developed a technical snag at Doha.

However, the issue was resolved but the aircraft developed another snag on its way to Kozhikode. 

The flight was, therefore, diverted to Mumbai.

About 163 passengers were then put on another flight to Kozhikode. But poor visibility at Kozhikode resulted in that flight also being diverted to Kochi. 

Case registered

Meanwhile, police in Kerala have registered cases against six passengers for creating trouble on the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight on Friday. 

The passengers -- Ashraf, Abdul Khadar, Augustine, Rasheed, Manoj and Thompson -- who were earlier detained for a few hours, were again asked to present themselves at Nedumbassery airport in Kochi on Sunday morning to ascertain what led to the pilot sounding a hijack alarm. 

The pilot of Air India Express flight IX 4522, Captain Rupali Waghmare, sent a false hijack alarm that alerted Indian airports and defence establishments when she feared that angry passengers were trying to storm into the cockpit.

An emergency was declared at Thiruvananthapuram airport where the flight had landed on Friday morning, with soldiers surrounding the aircraft for many hours. 

Passengers however claimed that they did not enter the cockpit and were only arguing with the crew. 

Meanwhile, a video clip taken by a passenger on the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight has emerged. 

Originally broadcast on Mathrubhumi, a Malayalam language newspaper published from Kerala, the video was later uploaded on Youtube. 

In the video, one can clearly hear passengers arguing with the local police. One of them is heard saying, “We are not terrorists. Why are you treating us like this?” 

Non-resident Indians in the UAE and other Gulf states have also launched a campaign against Air India. 

NRIs living in the UAE have called on the Indian Embassy to request New Delhi to make necessary changes to Indian anti-hijack laws so that it is not misused by an airline against its passengers. 

UAE-based FM radio station Hit 96.7, that broadcasts in Malayalam, has asked listeners to register their complaints directly at the Indian Embassy in UAE. 

“The letter addressed to the Indian Ambassador in UAE on our resentment against Air India, following the bitter experience reported on Friday. Mail a signed copy of the same to ambassador@indembassyuae.org or fax the signed copy to 02-4447729. Together can we make a difference,” the radio channel said on its Facebook page. 

Shabu Kilithattil, head of news at the FM station, said, “We started this campaign so that the embassy or the ambassador, who is in-charge of the welfare of Indians living in the UAE, is made aware of their grievances.

“This is not the first time NRIs have been troubled by the Indian government-owned airline. This has been going on for several years,” he said.

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