NEW DELHI: The four-hour journey of an Air India Express flight from Saudi Arabia to Mangaluru was delayed by three hours due to a braking sensor failure in the aircraft, said flyers on board. A total of 186 passengers were forced to cool their heels in their seats till the issue was rectified.
Flight IX 886, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, was to depart from King Fahd International Airport to Mangaluru International Airport at 9.35 pm (Saudi Arabia time) on Friday. It finally left by 12.45 am on Saturday and reached its destination at 7.15 am, instead of its scheduled arrival time of 4.25 am.
Aircraft braking sensors facilitate safe landing of aircraft. They prevent overheating of wheels and avert wheels lock-up using using anti-skid systems. Flyer Syed Mohammed Shakeel, who works in a private firm in Riyadh told this reporter, "I had travelled from Riyadh to Dammam to board this flight to my hometown Mangaluru. Initially, the delay was said to be 20 minutes before we boarded. But later, the Flight Captain announced there was a technical issue and it was being sorted out. Aircraft engineers came on board and entered the cockpit. By 12.15 am, the Captain again made an announcement saying the aircraft had a braking sensor issue and it had been rectified. The aircraft took off sometime after that," he said.
Passengers were put to much inconvenience, particularly those with children, he added.
Shakeel added that this was the second time he was experiencing delays on the same Air India Express flight was having a fault. "The previous time in March 26, the flight was delayed by 26 hours and we had to stay at hotel. Atleast it is not so bad this time," he said.
Nihal Abdul Kadir, a finance and accounts professional, said, "I was travelling with my wife and daughter. We were really worried over repeated delays in take-off by the flight. Some sensor issue was specified. The Ahmedabad Air India crash incident is still in our minds and so we were quite anxious."
There was no proper information conveyed to the passengers too which was very frustrating, he charged. "Many were hungry too as we were supposed to get our dinner after boarding. Only water was served and that too if we requested them. We finally got our food after the flight took off," Kadir added.
P.A Hameed Padubidri, a pro-bono lawyer who assists Indians based in the Gulf, said, "This is not the first time passengers face this kind of issue, which is recurring phenomenon with Air India Express." He detailed multiple instances when passengers suffered on the airline's flights from Gulf countries to India.
In this specific instance, there was no clarity on when the aircraft would actually depart, leaving passengers anxious, he said. "Passengers deserve timely information. Being held inside an aircraft for hours without updates or proper care raises serious concerns about transparency, passenger rights, and basic human dignity," he added.
Air India Express has the maximum reach across the Gulf nations with its services connecting even smaller cities to India which makes flyers opt for it. Despite reaching out to multiple airline representatives since morning, Air India Express did not respond.