All on board, but where’s the pilot?

New Delhi: In a rare event, flight number 402 of Indigo Airlines, scheduled to leave for the Capital from Mumbai this morning didn’t have a pilot to fly it. The aircraft had 110 passengers on board.
According to airport sources, the aircraft which was to depart at about 6 a.m. had to be scrapped. The chief executive officer of Indigo Airlines, Mr Bruce Ashby, told The Statesman: “We didn’t have the pilot to fly the aircraft which was scheduled to depart for Delhi and then return to Mumbai. Therefore, we had to cancel the flight.”
Mr Ashby added that such a thing had happened for the first time.
Officials said that most of the airline’s pilots had fallen sick and there were no stand-by pilots available to fly the aircraft. Around 30 flights are flown by the airline daily across eleven cities.
Sources said the passengers were upset, panicky and angry in turn.
01/11/06 Mohit Sharma/The Statesman

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline