Flying from New York to Delhi can take a long time because of the distance and in order to avoid long travel times, passengers opt for direct flights. For the passengers of American Airlines flight 292, scheduled to fly from New York to Delhi, the story turned out to be quite different as the flight had to be diverted to Heathrow. This was done as a passenger on board fell sick and the flight had to make an emergency landing. While such situations are not uncommon as they usually end up causing some delay. But in this case, a series of events has left at least 260 passengers stranded for days.
Hindustan Times has quoted an anonymous passenger on the American Airlines flight 292 who said that the flight number has now been changed to 295. The delay was caused because the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) did not immediately give the clearance to the flight to land in Delhi.
At least 260 New Delhi-bound passengers have been stranded in London since Sunday when their American Airlines flight 292 from New York was diverted to the Heathrow Airport as a passenger fell sick. They were issued visas for two days at Heathrow and accommodated in a hotel but remained in London due to technicalities related to the scheduling of the flight arranged to fly them to New Delhi.
This could have happened as American Airlines is not approved by the DGCA to operate flights between the UK and India. As a result, special permission to land this flight from Heathrow to Delhi was needed. At the same time, the flight could not take off as the crew needed to meet the rest requirement as well.
The report goes on to quote passengers who say that the flight was then scheduled for a 7 AM departure from Heathrow but was eventually cancelled following multiple delays. Passengers said that the DGCA permitted the airline by around noon which resulted in an extension of the crew’s flight duty time.
An anonymous DGCA official, however, said that the permission for the change in flight number was granted immediately but the crew needed to meet the rest requirement and as a result, the flight was finally scheduled for a Wednesday departure. The change in the flight number was needed as the American Airline flight flying from London-Delhi was a non-scheduled operation.
In the meantime, American Airlines accommodated some passengers on other flights and the rest were accommodated in a hotel. The passengers were also given a 2-day visa at the airport.
The flight is now expected to land in Delhi on Wednesday evening.
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