New Delhi:
The dense fog that had shrouded the capital since Friday night turned out to be a harrowing 10-hour ordeal for over 200 passengers on the SpiceJet Delhi-Ahmedabad flight.
The SpiceJet flight, which was scheduled to take off from Delhi's IGI Airport at 9.30 pm on Friday towards Ahmedabad, was delayed due to poor visibility conditions. The passengers had to wait for the entire night for the flight to take off and many of them in protest even stayed on the plane.
The airline finally managed to accommodate them on a special flight on Saturday morning. (
Read & Watch: 12-hour flight ordeal for 200 passengers)
"The flight was delayed due to fog and the resulting poor visibility. The passengers were offered food and hotel accommodation, which they refused, and asked instead to be accommodated on another flight," SpiceJet said in a statement.
"We arranged for a special flight to the destination the next morning departing at 7:25 am and passengers were informed at 1:15 am. Passengers connecting in Delhi were offered hotel accommodation. Most passengers chose to stay on board till 3:30 am. Re-boarding of passengers started at 6:15 am. Refreshments were served to passengers on board and on ground," the air carrier said.
But sources tell NDTV that the runway visibility between 10 pm and midnight on Friday was around 2000 meters, which was sufficient for take off.
Prakash, a passenger on board the SpiceJet flight, said: "In the answer of our inquiry, they said that the weather and the unavailability of the pilot both are the reasons. Nobody came to help while we were in the aircraft for the entire night."
Close on the heels of this flight, 400 passengers on Cathay Pacific Delhi-Bangkok flight, had to wait for 10 hours before they could take off. Not just because of fog but also because the delay required the airline to change crews. (
Read & Watch: 400 passengers stuck on runway for 10 hours)
To avoid delays like these, a year ago, more than Rs 1000 crore were spent on installing the CAT 3 B landing system at Delhi airport. Cat 3 system enables flights can take off and land at 150 meter visibility. But several airlines like Jet Airways, Spice Jet and JetLite have not upgraded their aircrafts to be CAT 3 enabled that accounts for 30 per cent of the flights here at the Delhi airport which get cancelled every day due to the fog.
Despite the investment, it's the passengers who continue to suffer again! (
Read & Watch: Fog hits flights, trains schedules yet again)