Air India's Mumbai To San Francisco Flight Delayed 18 Hours: What Went Wrong?

A delay of approximately 18 hours was experienced by the Air India flight from Mumbai to San Francisco due to a technical malfunction and a passenger's medical emergency, on Friday.

Initially slated for departure from Mumbai International Airport at 4 pm, the flight faced an initial delay of over three hours upon the crew's detection of a technical issue, as reported by Hindustan Times.

18-Hour Delay: Air India's Mumbai-San Francisco Flight

Despite rescheduling the departure to 7:17 pm, further delays ensued when a passenger fell ill during boarding, prompting some other passengers to deboard. The flight encountered another setback when it had to halt due to night landing restrictions at San Francisco airport and the crew's duty limitations.

An Air India spokesperson issued a statement, attributing the delay to safety concerns and the subsequent engineering checks necessitated by the technical problem. Additionally, the statement mentioned the delay caused by deboarding passengers and their baggage, as well as the return to the ramp due to the ill passenger, as per media reports.

The airline provided affected passengers with hotel accommodations, complimentary rescheduling options, and refreshments at the airport, expressing regret for the inconvenience caused. Reports indicated that passengers endured a prolonged period of confinement within the flight cabin, lasting around five to six hours before they were finally deboarded by authorities.

Some passengers vented their frustrations on social media platforms, recounting their discomfort due to the lack of air conditioning, inadequate in-flight service, and distressing circumstances leading to passenger medical emergencies.

"Penning down the worst experience i have ever had with Air India. I had a flight, AI 179, scheduled on the 24th of May, 2024 from Mumbai to San Francisco. The flight was a total nuisance. The service post de-planing was also super chaotic...The flight had no air conditioning and we were stuck inside for good 5 hours. The in-flight service from the crew members was disappointing. 3 people passed out due to suffocation. Everyone eventually had to de-board. The pick up and drop service to the hotel was so tiring," a passenger wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Another wrote, "What is happening in flight no AI179( Mumbai to San Francisco) , the AC is not working, the flight was supposed to start at 4:00pm and now it's 7:09pm. There are old age people...Why the aircraft was not checked before?"