Midair snag leaves flyers nervous in sky over Chennai

Chennai: Passengers on board a SpiceJet aircraft from Chennai to Thoothukudi spent an anxious 30 minutes in the air on Sunday morning after the crew announced that the flight was returning to Chennai due to a technical snag. The 62 passengers were rocked by turbulence as the aircraft flew over the sea for what seemed a long while before descending safely to Chennai.

The aircraft took off at 8.50 am and the return to Chennai was announced within 10 minutes of the flight. It may have taken the aircraft at least 25 minutes more before landing, rendering passengers extremely nervous.

“We found our aircraft was flying above sea in turbulence. The plane was shaking and we felt we were in stormy weather. There were women passengers also on the flight. Flying over the sea in such conditions created a fear in the minds of passengers mainly because of the incident of the IAF flight that went missing over the Bay of Bengal two weeks ago. Some of the passengers even started crying. We were not sure if we would be land back alive,” said Jaguar Thangam, cinema stunt director, a passenger on the flight.

Repeated questions from passengers did not elicit much information from the crew. “They initially said there was a minor snag. But later the airhostesses refused to talk and they went and sat in their crew seats,” he added. After spending an anxious 30 minutes in the air, the aircraft landed back in Chennai at around 9.35 am, he said.

“As soon as the aircraft landed, power went off inside the flight, which triggered a fresh round of cries. But we were safely escorted out. After we landed, we waited for the pilot Pratyush to come out and we thanked him for saving out lives,” noted Thangam.

The passengers were told that the aircraft would be ready soon. But they refused to board the same aircraft and the airline arranged another aircraft for them. “We travelled in another aircraft and landed in Thoothukudi by 12.15 pm,” said a relieved Thangam.

Aviation sources later said the pilot could have taken the aircraft over the sea to burn fuel so that it would bring down the risk during an emergency landing.