New Delhi, September 11— More than 200 passengers on an Air India flight to Singapore endured a six-hour ordeal at Delhi airport after being deplaned late Wednesday night due to a faulty air-conditioning system inside the aircraft.
Flight AI2380, scheduled to depart for Singapore around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, was operated with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Passengers had already boarded and remained seated for nearly two hours before the crew announced that everyone would need to disembark because of a cooling and electrical supply malfunction, according to a PTI journalist who was on board.
Some passengers were seen fanning themselves with newspapers and magazines as cabin temperatures rose, video clips shared on social media showed.
In a statement issued Thursday, Air India confirmed that the flight was delayed because of a “cabin cooling issue on ground prior to departure.”
“Passengers were regularly kept informed of the delay and our ground colleagues in Delhi extended all support to passengers at the airport, including providing refreshments and meals,” the airline said. “The flight departed at 0536 hrs IST after a change of aircraft.”
The affected passengers were escorted back to the terminal building to wait. While some complained that no immediate explanation was given for the decision to deplane, the airline later apologized for the inconvenience caused.
The replacement aircraft eventually took off at 5:36 a.m. on Thursday, nearly six hours behind schedule.
