Vijayawada: A major mishap was averted at Vijayawada Airport on Wednesday after a pilot sensed a technical glitch in one of the engines and decided not to fly the aircraft. The aircraft with 65 passengers on board was supposed to fly to Chennai from Vijayawada but the pilot while testing the engines sensed a problem with one of the engines and halted the aircraft on the apron.
However, the delay caused due to the technical problem forced the passengers to stay for 25 minutes inside the aircraft, which was locked. This triggered panic among a few passengers who forced the staff on board to let them out.
According to officials, the Air Costa flight (LB661), which was scheduled to leave Vijayawada at 4.30 pm, was delayed till 6.30 pm forcing passengers to wait for two hours in the airport passenger terminal. After the aircraft was set to fly at 6.30 pm passengers boarded it but the pilot reported a technical issue with one of the engines, airport director M. Raja Kishore told Deccan Chronicle.
“Since the problem was not known initially the pilot had to spend a few minutes on the engines and came to a conclusion to stop flying. Meanwhile passengers on board who wanted to go back forced staff to open the door, which was not possible until the pilot gave the clearance,” Mr Kishore added.
However, passengers were shifted to a security bound area in the terminal. An alternate flight service scheduled at 9.30 pm would be offered to the passengers to Chennai. Meanwhile, passengers alleged that the airliner staff ignored their woes.
