First Haj flight fails to...

First Haj flight fails to...

The flight supposed to take off at 6 am was still on the runway. The pilgrims had already wore Ahram and now were not able to do anything as per the rituals. Dr Owaiz Talib who was at the airport told The Hitavada, "The pilot of Thai Plane did not cooperate and refused to fly. Even the crew members misbehaved with the pilgrims. We were happy when we saw off our relatives at Haj house but when we came to know that the flight did not take off, we became angry. No person from Air India was on the ground with whom, pilgrims could have communicated. Moreover, the airlines did not arrange for food of the pilgrims. The pilgrims included women, old aged people, little children. Many of them were feeling uneasy. Finally, three pilgrims namely Gulam Mohd of Akola. Mehrunnisa of Nagpur and Kal imullah Khan of Amravati fainted and were taken to CARE Hospital for treatment. No person from Haj Committee was available for help. Nobody was informing us about the development."Prakash Gajbhiye. MLC was first to reach the airport. He went inside and brought situation under control, else angry relatives of the pilgrims might have created ruckus. He talked to airport officials. Haj Committee members and relatives. Gajbhiye said, "The situation was difficult to handle but as per my information, pilot is still not ready to take off the flight, the reason best known to him. The pilgrims seated on the runway as they were feeling suffocated inside the aircraft as the AC was switched off."After so much angry reactions from the relatives the passengers were brought at wailing room and were provided with some food. Meanwhile relatives blamed Air India and MIHAN India Limited (MIL) which handles the functioning on the ground. Some angry relatives of pilgrims filed FIR against the Air India for tilts mess at Sonegaon Police Station. Air India sources disclosed that the two flights reached Nagpur airport at 11.45 pm on Monday from Bangalore and Jeddah. As per the crew Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL). they were supposed to take rest. The engineers who were checking up the aircrafts noticed some problems in the aircraft. The sources further said that as it was Thai plane, the spare pans were supposed to travel from Bangkok to Delhi. From Delhi the spare pans were to be brought by IndiGo flight. Somehow it did not reach. Still it was decided lo take the light but pilot noticed some big problem. Prime importance was given to passenger sal'et. The engineers tried their best hut die time was running off and pilgrims were becoming desperate. Air India sources admitted that the inconvenience on the pan of pilgrims was understandable. But passengers' safety was given priority. According to Air India sources they have provided biryani from outside in tiffin boxes to pilgrims. It took 4.5 hours to bring food from outside.

Posted in: News 2014