A Mumbai-bound IndiGo flight from Varanasi was delayed by several hours on Thursday after the pilot scheduled to operate the flight suddenly “reported sick”, following which the airline made alternative arrangements, an airline source said.
Flight 6E-6544 was scheduled to fly from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport to Mumbai.
Airport director Puneet Gupta said the flight was delayed for hours due to technical reasons and was later operated to Mumbai. He denied reports of passengers creating a ruckus at the airport.
The airline, however, said the delay occurred after the pilot assigned to the flight suddenly called in sick.
“This led us to make alternative arrangements and rush in another pilot who later flew the flight,” an airline source told PTI over phone.
“Since alternative arrangements had to be made, this caused some delay, but then the passengers were informed of the reasons and served refreshments,” the source added.
The flight eventually departed for Mumbai after the alternative arrangements were made.
