File photo: An Air India Dreamliner plane
Passengers of Air India's Delhi-New York Dreamliner plane were kept confined inside the aircraft at the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi for more than six hours.
Passengers had boarded the aircraft at midnight but the plane left only at around 6.35 AM with no information being shared with passengers for the delay, one of the passengers said.
The flight AI-101 was scheduled to depart at 1:00 AM.
With passengers not being allowed to deplane, and the flight attendants not providing complete information, everybody got restless, the passenger claimed.
Air India's spokesman said the flight was delayed because one of the pilots was found to be sick during the last medical examination before take-off of the 16-hour flight, and as per rules he could not fly the plane.
"Therefore, a replacement was sought and it took some time," the spokesperson said, and added that inconvenience was caused to the passengers as it was a last minute replacement.
According to norms, passengers travelling on all US-bound planes have to undergo a thorough security check and therefore, a decision was taken not to allow deplaning of passengers from the aircraft.