NEW DELHI, Mar 5: A Pune-bound Indigo flight was delayed by more than two hours before the plane was fumigated and all the covers changed after a passenger on-board announced that he was Covid-19 positive.
Unprecedented chaos was witnessed in the plane as it was about to take off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport for Pune. “On March 4, a passenger announced himself that he was travelling to Pune and that he was Covid positive. He informed flight crew on board,” an Indigo official said on Friday.
After the announcement by the said passenger, there was panic among the rest of the passengers on the flight. The entire incident happened when the flight was on the runway and about to take off to Pune.
“The flight was reported to be delayed for about two hours because of the incident. The pilot of the aircraft turned back the flight from the runway to taxi-bay and offloaded all the passengers, including the Covid-19 positive passenger. Later, the aircraft was fumigated and sanitised and the seat covers were also changed,” the official said.
Later, the passenger, who claimed that he was Covid-19 positive, was handed over to the airport medical authority and he was truly found to be positive.
(Manas Dasgupta)
