Air India flight AI-179 was scheduled to depart from Mumbai to San Francisco at 4 pm on Friday.
Mumbai:
Air India flight AI-179, which was scheduled to depart from Mumbai to San Francisco at 4pm local time on Friday, was delayed due to a technical issue and has been rescheduled to depart at 10:30am on Saturday.
The flight was postponed until 7:17 PM, but was forced to turn back after one passenger reported feeling ill. The ill passenger was removed from the flight, but night landing restrictions were in place at San Francisco International Airport, in addition to flight duty restrictions for crew members.
“Flight AI-179 from Mumbai to San Francisco, scheduled to depart at 4pm today, was delayed due to a short-notice technical issue. As safety is a top priority, the aircraft has been detained for technical checks,” an Air India spokesman said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, the flight was further delayed as several passengers decided to abort their trip and their baggage had to be removed from the aircraft. The flight was postponed to 7:17 p.m. but was forced to turn back after a passenger reported feeling ill. While the sick passengers and their baggage were disembarking, night landing restrictions were in effect at SFO along with flight duty restrictions for crew,” it added.
Passengers were offered hotel accommodations, free schedule changes and refreshments at the airport, according to the statement.
An Air India spokesperson said: “The customer was offered hotel accommodation, free flight change, full refund and was provided refreshments at the airport. The flight has been rescheduled for tomorrow (Saturday) at 10.30am. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
