Standby passenger boards IndiGo flight in place of confirmed ticket holder

Representational Image. File Pic

In an apparent security lapse, a standby passenger in place of a confirmed ticket holder boarded the Varanasi-bound IndiGo flight at the Mumbai airport on Tuesday and was later deboarded before the plane took off.

Generally, an airline staff who can take a flight in case there is a vacant seat is referred to as a standby passenger.

In a statement, IndiGo said there was an error during the passenger boarding process of 6E 6543 from Mumbai to Varanasi, wherein a standby passenger was allotted a seat reserved for a confirmed passenger.

"The error was noticed prior to the departure of the aircraft, and the standby passenger was de-boarded. This led to a slight delay in the departure of the aircraft," the airline said.

Further, IndiGo said it will take all measures to strengthen its operational processes.

In another case, one person has died aboard a London-Singapore flight that encountered severe turbulence, Singapore Airlines said Tuesday. The plane was diverted to Bangkok, where emergency crews rushed to help injured passengers amid stormy weather.

The Boeing 777-300ER, with a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board, landed in Bangkok at 3:45 pm (0845 GMT), the airline said in a Facebook post.

Emergency crews from Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, about 20 km (12 miles) away from Suvarnabhumi Airport, were on site to transfer injured passengers from Flight SQ321 from Heathrow off the runway for treatment. Videos posted on the LINE messaging platform by Suvarnabhumi Airport showed a line of ambulances streaming to the scene.

Tracking data captured by FlightRadar24 and analysed by The Associated Press showed the Singapore Airlines flight cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet. Just after 0800 GMT, the Boeing 777 suddenly and sharply pitched down to 31,000 feet over the span of some three minutes, the data shows.

The aircraft stayed at 31,000 feet for just under 10 minutes before rapidly descending and landing in Bangkok in just under half an hour

(With inputs from ANI and AP)