60 hrs late, flight AI-112 from London hits IGI

New Delhi: A bird-hit, an engine snag and two days at Heathrow later, the stranded Air India AI-112 flight finally touched down at the IGI Airport around Sunday noon, taking over 60 hours for what should have been nine.
What the New York-London-Delhi-Mumbai flight also unloaded was a torrent of accusation by 338 passengers, many of whom vowed never to set foot on an A-I flight.
The Boeing 747-400, with 434 passengers on board, took off from London’s Heathrow airport on Thursday night and returned within 20 minutes following a bird-hit. With no suitable replacement for the flawed engine available in London, the flight could take off from Heathrow only after the engine was sent from here on Friday. The flight that carried the substitute engine came back with a lucky few — 96 passengers, who came back yesterday.
Sandeep Gill, who took the flight with her father Jeet Singh from London, had the message from the 338 passengers left back: “Never board an Air-India flight.”
15/10/06 Harleen Bhatti/Delhi Newsline

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