BENGALURU: A Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt in Germany which departed with over 300 passengers on board heading to Bengaluru was diverted to Istanbul in Turkey on Tuesday (October 18) following an onboard medical emergency. It finally reached Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Thursday afternoon, over 36 hours behind schedule.
Flight LH 754 took off on Tuesday from Germany at 1.05 pm and was supposed to reach KIA at 1.25 am on Wednesday morning. Instead, it made an emergency landing at Turkey. An airport source confirmed that it finally reached KIA at 1.45 pm.
The lack of accommodation and information from the airline came in for much criticism from those on board including two-time Grammy award-winning Indian composer Ricky Kej. He put out a series of tweets and the latest one said,
“Over 31 hours now..still stranded in Istanbul. Thanks to the utter disregard of Indian passengers by @Lufthansa. Still not even a statement, or any info from them. Zero accountability. Shows how much they care. Two nights now without a bed, access to luggage etc.”
Golfer Agastya Jayanti tweeted about everyone struggling at Istanbul airport including elderly people and babies and alleged complete apathy from Lufthansa. A volley of tweets were unleashed against the airline by passengers.
Lufthansa tweeted: Lufthansa flight LH754/18 October from Frankfurt to Bangalore had to be diverted due to a medical emergency on board. For safety reasons, the oxygen cylinders used to treat the medical emergency must be replaced before continuing the flight.” It added. Stating that it was taking more time than expected, the airline expressed its regret over the circumstances.
The Consulate General of India in Istanbul tweeted last night that it was in touch with some of the Indian passengers. “It is learnt that the flight will be taking off shortly after completion of some technical processes,” it tweeted last night.