Watch: Chaos inside IndiGo flight amid 25-minute blackout, no ac and lights
Stranded in the sweltering heat, distressed passengers were seen desperately fanning themselves with whatever they could find, including files, newspapers, and sticks.
by Akash Chatterjee · India TodayIn Short
- IndiGo flight 6E657 suffered a ground power unit failure on tarmac
- Cabin lights and air conditioning stopped, leaving passengers stranded in darkness
- Passengers fanned themselves with files, newspapers and sticks during the ordeal
A major technical snag hit an IndiGo Airlines flight from Vadodara to Delhi, causing intense discomfort to passengers and triggering a massive uproar at the airport. The Ground Power Unit (GPU) of flight number 6E657 suddenly failed while the aircraft was stationary on the tarmac, causing the air conditioning and cabin lights to shut down completely. This plunged the aircraft into total darkness and created suffocating, hot conditions inside the sealed cabin.
The incident lasted for about 25 minutes, from 8:50 pm to 9:15 pm last night. Stranded in the sweltering heat, distressed passengers were seen desperately fanning themselves with whatever they could find, including files, newspapers, and sticks. A passenger captured the ordeal on a mobile phone, and the video has since gone viral on social media.
According to official airport sources, the crisis was triggered by a technical failure in the Ground Power Unit, which supplies vital electricity to an aircraft's cabin lights, air conditioning, and cockpit instruments when its main engines are turned off at the terminal. Following the power failure, a team of airline technicians immediately initiated repair work and successfully restored the power supply. The passengers finally breathed a sigh of relief once the lights and air conditioning were turned back on, after which the flight departed for Delhi.
The incident also resulted in a delay in the departure of the flight. The flight was scheduled to depart at 8.40 pm; however, due to the failure in GPU, it departed at 10 pm.
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