Indian flight departs with 55 passengers left on bus
Every flight passenger hates being packed into a busy terminal transport bus from the gate to the stairs before climbing onto their aeroplane. But on Monday morning 55 passengers crammed onto a bus and sat there for an hour while their flight forgot about them and took off.
The incident took place in India on a flight operated by budget airline Go First. A flight took off from Bengaluru Airport heading toward the capital city of Delhi while a bus full of passengers sat on the transport bus and watched helplessly as their plane took off without them.
The airline, formerly known as Go Air, managed to leave the 55 passengers stranded on the tarmac in the southern Indian state of Karnataka in a bungling display of logistics and organization. Ironically, the airline did manage to efficiently get the flight off on time at 6.20am, despite being several dozen passengers short.
The passengers checked in their luggage and had boarding passes in hand, ready to fly to their destination. But instead of a peaceful flight, they were left stranded and confused with the ground staff not even sure if the flight had taken off or not, according to one upset passenger.
“The ground staff were checking whether the flight took off. Initially, they said the flight will return.”
Go First issued an apology on Twitter for the inconvenience caused after angry passengers tweeted for answers and compensation. Customers tagged not only the airline but also the Federal Aviation Minister and even India’s Prime Minister’s office in hopes of getting some quick resolution to the airline’s negligence.
A follow-up investigation by news agency ANI found that two of the 55 stranded passengers were refunded for their flight. The other 53 were moved to other flights on other airlines to get to their destination.
It’s been a rough week for airlines in India after an Air India flight’s crew and the pilot came under fire for their poor handling of a drunken passenger who peed on an old woman during one of their flights.
Go First is currently investigating the incident to find answers as to how this incredible blunder occurred.
