In a bizarre incident at Kochi airport, about 40-50 SpiceJet passengers still in a coach on their way to board their flight to Mumbai saw the improbable sight of their aircraft taxiing towards the runway to take off. The major security breach on Saturday night, caused by a series of bungles in pouring rain, including a misinformed bus driver, was discovered only after the passengers raised an alarm and sent the airline ground staff and crew into a tizzy.After the pilots were alerted, the Boeing 737 returned to pick up those it had left behind.
The series of misadventures began when SpiceJet flight SG 154 from Kochi to Mumbai, which was scheduled to depart at 6.55 pm, was delayed by 75 minutes. “The airline attributed the delay to air traffic congestion at Mumbai airport. We were to land in Mumbai at 8.55 pm; instead the departure was moved to 8.10 pm,“ said Karthik Ramani, who travelled on that flight.
When the passengers were being ferried from the terminal building to the aircraft by coach, around 7.50 pm, there was a sudden downpour. “I was in the last bus that was carrying about 40-50 passengers to the aircraft ladder point. It stopped at a spot on the apron and remained there for close to 30 minutes,“ said Ramani.
The passengers could see two SpiceJet aircraft parked ahead, a Boeing 737 and a smaller Q400 aircraft that was bound for Chennai. As the exasperated passengers waited for their bus to move, their aircraft started moving instead.“We were worried it was our flight, since ours was the Mumbai flight and so it would be operated by the bigger aircraft.But since it's not possible that they would leave passengers behind, we weren't sure,“ he said, adding that they exhorted the driver to take the bus to their aircraft.
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