BENGALURU: In one of the worst nightmares for any flyer, a GoAir flight carrying 158 passengers, suffered a technical glitch mid-air, 33 minutes after it took off from Singapore’s Changi Airport to Bengaluru, in the wee hours of Monday. It had to return to Changi to carry out repairs. Passengers reported to have smelled heavy oil and smoke in the cabin. After repairs were carried out, the flight allegedly took off nearly 43 hours after the scheduled departure time, leaving many stranded at the airport without any information. However, the a i rline billed it as a 36-hour delay.
The incident may give rise to rumours that it was grounded in Singapore. This version was ruled out by the airline. According to an airline spokesperson, “The flight (G8-28) had an air turn back on priority, shortly after take off, following a technical issue.” The flight has a scheduled departure time of Indian time 1.50 am (Singapore time: 4.20 am), on Monday and arrival at 6.50 am at KIA.
The technical problem that occurred was resolved by the GoAir engineering team, following which the flight was given clearance for take off on Tuesday night around 9 pm (Indian time) he added. Passenger Kumar Jiwitesh, who works in Singapore, tweeted: GoAir Singapore-Bengaluru flight grounded; smell of oil reported in cabin mid-air. Literally Stranded at Changi airport from the past 2 days! No update till yet from the crew. Cooking up stories to just fool the passengers! Meanwhile, the Jet Airways PR team was not able to give exact information about the arrival and departure time and kept changing their stance.” (sic)