05 August,2011 07:32 AM IST | | Bipin Kumar Singh
Passengers on board Flight SG106 had a close shave last morning, when fuel leakage was discovered on the aircraft in the nick of time, leading to a four-hour delay
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad SpiceJet flight SG 106 narrowly escaped disaster last morning, when the detection of fuel leakage in the aircraft in the nick of time prevented it from taking off. The last minute detection averted a major tragedy, saving the lives of the 186 passengers on board.
The detection of fuel leakage in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad
SpiceJet flight prevented it from taking off and averted a mishap
The plane, which was scheduled to take off at 8.10 am, had finished boarding all its passengers, when
suddenly an announcement was made on board at 8.05 am, informing passengers that a technical problem had
been detected, which could lead to possible delay.
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At 8.15 am, the pilot-in-command made his second announcement, saying that the flight had been held up by a possible fuel leakage. Half an hour later, he asked the passengers to deplane, confirming fuel leakage as the cause. The flight was thereafter rescheduled for 11 am, inconveniencing passengers.
"I boarded the flight at 8 am, and soon the pilot announced that the flight could be delayed owing to a technical snag.
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This was followed by a request for us to deplane. I am grateful that the problem was identified before takeoff, or we could have lost our lives," said a senior corporate manager, who had boarded the flight, on condition of anonymity.
Adding a comic touch to the grim incident, another passenger said, "It was a morning flight, and I promptly fell asleep after boarding the plane. I slept through the entire incident, blissfully unaware of the stir around me.
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In fact, when a crewmember woke me up and asked me to exit, I assumed that the flight had reached Ahmedabad. It is only when I saw all my co-passengers thanking God, that I realised we had escaped death."
Flight SG 106 being a connecting flight, most of the passengers who had boarded it were from Delhi or Bangalore, while others were passengers who needed a low cost flight to Ahmedabad.
Almost all were inconvenienced, complaining that the airline authorities had not extended any assistance to them, not even allowing them to cancel tickets.
"The airline had not informed us in advance. They are not even responding to our queries, or agreeing to cancel our tickets.
The staff members who escorted us into the flight seem to have disappeared. We are in a big soup," said a software engineer from Delhi, who had boarded the flight.
Deja vu
A similar tragedy was averted last Wednesday, when an Emirates flight from Mumbai to Dubai, EK 507, took off punctually at 3.35 pm, but was forced to make an emergency landing 23 minutes later, owing to suspected fuel leakage.
The Other Side
SpiceJet's Mumbai spokesperson said, "Yes the flight could not take off at its scheduled time owing to some technical reasons. It took off at 11 am."
