Air India Mumbai to San Francisco flight delayed, set to depart today

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Air India flight AI-179 scheduled to depart from Mumbai to San Francisco at 4 pm (local time) on Friday was delayed due to a technical issue and is now rescheduled to depart at 10:30 am on Saturday.

The plane was rescheduled for 7:17 p.m., but it had to ramp back because a passenger wasn't feeling well. The sick passenger got off the aircraft, although crew flying duty restrictions and night landing restrictions had already taken effect at SFO.

In a statement, an Air India spokesperson stated, "AI-179 from Mumbai to San Francisco, scheduled to depart at 1600 hrs today, was delayed due to a technical issue arising just before departure. Giving top priority to safety issues, the aircraft was held back for engineering checks."

"Meanwhile, a few guests decided to discontinue the journey and the flight got further delayed as their baggage had to be offloaded from the aircraft. The flight was pushed back at 1917 hours but had to be rescheduled due to one guest feeling unwell. While the ailing guest was being deboarded with his baggage, the night landing restrictions at SFO had set in along with the crew flight duty limitations," it added.

The statement claims that travellers received gratis rescheduling, hotel accommodations, and refreshments at the airport.

Air India spokesperson stated, "Guests have been offered hotel accommodation, complimentary rescheduling and full refunds and served refreshments at the airport. The flight has now been rescheduled for 1030 hours tomorrow (Saturday). Inconvenience caused to guests is sincerely regretted."

(With Inputs from ANI)