BENGALURU: As IX 1132 descended towards Bengaluru, fear and helplessness enveloped the passengers, who prayed loudly and fervently for a safe landing.
The Air India Express flight which caught fire mid-air after taking off from Bengaluru to Kochi, had 179 passengers and six crew members, none of whom suffered major injuries. However, 15 passengers suffered cuts, bruises and injuries in the mad rush to leave the burning aircraft after it landed at KIA.
Passengers relived the horrifying experience of fire bellowing from the wing of the aircraft. Edy Anthony, a native of Aluva who works as a teacher at Dhanbad, suffered injuries to his back and knee after people fell on him as he slid down the evacuation slide. He told TNIE, “My wife Jolly and I were seated on the right side of the aircraft. I heard a loud sound which kept getting louder. The flight started wobbling from side to side. We alerted a cabin crew member but he told us not to worry, and that it could be a bird hit. Suddenly, we could see fire below the wing and it was becoming bigger. We showed him and he rushed to alert the pilot. In a while, the pilot announced a return to Bengaluru. It was a traumatising experience, our lives were at risk."
The evacuation slides were deployed from emergency exits, and flyers rushed to slide down and get away from the aircraft.
“Though I hit the bottom safely, I couldn’t get up as people kept landing on me. I suffered a knee injury and a blow on my back. It wasn’t only me, at least 15 more people suffered minor injuries in the rush,” said Jolly, a nursing superintendent at Dhanbad.
Dr Jeffy Cherry, a dentist in Thrissur, and his mother CM Shantha had come to Bengaluru on Saturday morning to attend the funeral of a relative, and were returning home. “Our flight had a delayed departure of 10.50pm as it had come late from Pune. Most of the flyers were Kerala natives going home. I was in the middle seat on the left side of the aircraft. I could hear a ‘thud’ from the right side which kept increasing gradually. Suddenly, a little girl said aloud that she could see fire from the wing of the aircraft. We rushed to look and could see the fire.”
The crew advised us to return to our seats. “When the pilot made the emergency landing announcement, there was shock and fear. Passengers were praying and many started crying loudly,” he added.
The emergency exits were opened and though passengers were guided on its usage, there were no queues. “Many started pushing ahead and rushing out. Some were trying to take their luggage from the overhead compartments, but were directed to leave it behind and rush,” the dentist said. The elderly were a bit worried about sliding down but were reassured by the crew and helpers waiting below. The passengers were immediately put on board a shuttle bus and taken to the terminal, he said.
Flyers wait till all Pax accommodated
Passengers were safely escorted to T-2 at KIA for the night, where they had to wait until alternative arrangements were made to reach Kochi. Having survived the trauma, they did not find much support from the airlines' staffers. There were also some altercations between the staff and passengers.
“We had to wait in the space allotted to us on some plastic chairs. Many elderly passengers were struggling,” said Dr Jeffy Cherry, a passenger. Flyer Edy Anthony charged the airline staff of being completely irresponsible, with no one one in authority willing to take charge of the situation.
“We were made to wait in a designated area. We demanded access to a lounge to stay the night but were denied. It was insensitive. We had paid a huge sum for the ticket,” charged Edy. He said the airline had initially planned to send the passengers by a 3 am flight on Sunday but flyers refused.
“With our hand baggage stuck inside the flight, we didn’t have any cash or cards and our mobile phones were running out of charge. We had nothing on us, so we refused to take that flight. Our baggage was handed to us around 4am,” he said.