Air India pilot refuses to fly 100 passengers including three 3 MPs, from Gujarat to Delhi

An unexpected disruption to a Delhi-bound Air India flight left some 100 passengers, including three BJP MPs, stranded at the Rajkot airport in Gujarat on Sunday night July 23.

The unusual situation occurred when the pilot of the aircraft refused to fly stating he had "exceeded" his duty hours, as per Directorate General of Civil Aviation  norms, leaving the passengers in a state of anxiety.

The incident took place after passengers boarded the Air India flight, which was supposed to take off at 8.30 pm on July 23.

The onboard passengers included three politicians Rajkot MP Mohan Kundariya, Jamnagar MP Poonam Maadam, and newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP Kesaridevsinh Jhala.

However, the airline issued and a statement saying AI404 operating between Rajkot and Delhi late evening on July 23 was delayed due to an operational reason.Subsequently, the cockpit crew came under Flight Duty Time Limit regulations for which they could not operate the flight as per regulatory norms.

The remaining passengers were offered hotel accommodation with all meals and their bookings rescheduled as per their desire including a full refund against cancellation.

In a similar incident earlier this month, around 20 to 25 students were left stranded after the cancellation of Air India flight AI 186 from Vancouver to Delhi on July 2 due to some technical issue.

Describing their ordeal, the University of British Columbia students had mentioned that the flight was initially scheduled to depart from Vancouver Airport at around 10.15 a.m. on July 2 but was rescheduled twice and eventually cancelled.