By Express News Service BENGALURU: The 173 passengers on board a GoAir flight from Bengaluru to Phuket in Thailand had a mid-air scare when the aircraft developed technical problems while flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet and had to return to Kempegowda International Airport. It landed safely at Bengaluru, but the angry passengers had to wait endlessly — initially on the tarmac itself — as they were sent to Phuket eight hours later on an alternative aircraft. Flight no G8-041, a Neo A320 aircraft, took off around 2.30 am on Friday from KIA without any glitches. In a statement, GoAir said the flight “did a precautionary air turn back in the interest of safety due to a technical glitch. After the turn back, the flight landed safely at the Bengaluru airport.” According to sources, when the flight gained 10,000 feet, the on-board sensors warned the cockpit crew about the possibility of a door opening (Door Avionics Open Indication) and hence the crew decided to take the flight back to the originating airport. Sources hastened to add that there was no loss of cabin pressure. A sudden dip in cabin pressure can be fatal for the passengers and crew. However, aviation safety consultant Mohan Ranganathan said this warning referred to the door in the avionic bay below, where passengers’ luggage is stored in an aircraft. “There is no direct danger to passengers. But if the door opens, there is a chance of air entering the electronic bay and damaging the flight controls. So, in the interest of passenger safety, it is always advisable not to fly in such a situation,” he said. Moreover, as per Flight Crew Operating Manual, the crew cannot continue flying when a warning signal has been given by the systems onboard, Captain Ranganathan added. There seemed to be much chaos and confusion on the tarmac after the passengers alighted as they had no clear information on why they were back at Kempegowda International Airport. Passenger Hemant Kanani, a Mumbai-based advocate, tweeted a video of passengers aimlessly standing on the tarmac, which showed most of them clueless and checking their phones. He also put out a sarcastic tweet: “People stranded on Bangalore airport. Thank you for such a great service.” In a series of tweets later, he asked: “@goairlinesIndia, are you deaf?” and “Our whole day will now be wasted thanks to your airlines.” Another passenger Priyanka Rathi tweeted: “We are stuck on Bangalore airport since 7 hours. No response from you. Chaos has happened.” The aircraft was finally changed and passengers left for Phuket at 10.44 am, eight hours and 14 minutes behind schedule. The A-320 Neo aircraft have earned notoriety over the last one year over repeated engine failures. A GoAir official insisted it was a technical issue not related to the engine, but did not elaborate on it. “Our engineering team is still investigating the reasons behind it. It will take time,” he said.

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