Another leased IA flight grounded after snag

By T. S. Shankar

CHENNAI, OCT. 21. A second leased Airbus-300 aircraft of the Indian Airlines was grounded at Delhi last night following a snag, leaving 135 Chennai-bound passengers stranded. The passengers, who arrived at the Kamaraj domestic terminal here today, by the same aircraft after the snag was rectified, said their journey was delayed by nearly 12 hours.

Already an Airbus-300 has been bothering the airline officials with its recurring technical snag of ``non-retraction of landing gear'', and it has been grounded following a major engine snag.

The two jets - the first bearing the registration number (VT-EVD) and the second bearing the call sign VT-EVC - were `dry leased' from the Philippines Airlines.

Today the agitated passengers told The Hindu that the flight (IC- 540) was to have left Delhi at 9-20 p.m. yesterday. But, the authorities kept them in the dark about the exact cause of the delay by only saying it was due to a ``technical snag''. Between 10 p.m. and 11-30 p.m, ``we were made to run from pillar to post at the Delhi airport to get a reply from a responsible airline official'', said a city-based businessman reacted, complaining of the shabby treatment meted out to them.

They were given overnight hotel accommodation but the stranded passengers were not given priority in Saturday morning's scheduled flight (IC-439) for Chennai. Instead, the airline authorities waited for the technical snag in the grounded Airbus rectified.

The trauma did not end there. The pilot rostered for the delayed flight ``reported sick'' at the last moment. After another commander was found, the flight took off around 10 a.m. on Saturday, after a 12-hour delay.

The travel trade complains that this Delhi-Chennai night flight (IC-540) has been arriving late for one reason or another.

When contacted the IA Regional Director (South), Mr. T. S. Chandrasekhar, said the delay was caused by a ``hydraulic snag'' in the Airbus-300 jet.

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