BENGALURU: Instead of the usual 1.20-hour journey from Bengaluru to Goa, nearly 180 flyers of a Vistara flight on Monday landed at the Dabolim airport 5.5 hours late.
The reason for this was that the flight reached the Dabolim Navy Airbase on time, but was sent back to Bengaluru due to “wildlife movement” on the runway, according to two individuals representing Vistara.
According to Vistara, Flight UK 881 left Terminal 2 of Kempegowda International Airport at 12.55 pm and returned at 3.05 pm. The Airbus A-320 aircraft took off again at 4.55 pm and reached Goa at 6.15 pm.
A flyer said refueling was done at KIA for an hour before its second take-off.
According to Dabolim airport sources, “Just as UK 881 approached the airport, a stray dog was spotted on the runway by the ground staff. The air traffic control alerted the pilot of the flight not to land immediately. This is a standard procedure done until the ground staff clears the runway. However, we don’t know why the pilot decided to return to Bengaluru.”
Flyers furious over diversion
“The reason we have been given is that the flight could not land due to runway restriction at Goa airport,” a member of the social media team of Vistara told The New Indian Express. An official post by Vistara stated the same.
The flyers took to social media and questioned why the flight was not diverted to Manohar International Airport at Mopa in Goa itself or even the airport at Mangaluru. Anuj Mishra, a financial tech professional onboard, posted,
“Why are runway restrictions only for UK 881? Why was it not diverted to MOPA (GOX) airport. Total haywire decision to make passengers' life hell. 6E 6345 Indigo from Ahmedabad landed at GOI. Looks like UK 881 was piloted by a third-class pilot.” Flyer Pratik Dutta posted, “What kind of absurd games are you playing! This is beyond frustrating!”
“How much longer?This is utterly unacceptable - get some beer on this flight, please!” and “Are the captains even here, or are they on a chai break?,” he posted. The flight was stuck for an hour in Bengaluru to refuel. “I have never experienced such a mess in my entire life. How much longer?,” he posted.