On Monday, the SpiceJet flight SG 154 headed to Mumbai from Kochi almost forgot 40 passengers who were suppose to board the plane.
To begin with, the Kochi-Mumbai flight was already delayed by 75 minutes due to a traffic congestion at the airport. After the delay, the flight was scheduled for departure at 8.10 p.m. However, around 7.50, when about 40 passengers were being ferried to the aircraft in a coach, there was a sudden and heavy downpour. The bus halted in and remained stationary for the next 30 minutes.
At this point, the passengers saw a couple of SpiceJet flights heading to the runway. Fearing that the plane had left them behind, they approached the coach driver. The coach proceeded and stopped, unfortunately, at the doorway of a flight that was headed to Chennai and not Mumbai.
After releasing that they had made a mistake, the crew called back the Mumbai-bound flight which was about to take off. The plane returned after 30 minutes, collected the passengers and finally departed at 10 p. m.
According to the former ICAO security auditor P. Mohanan, the goof-up was a major security lapse. “In 1985, Air India’s Kanishka bombing took place only because the terrorists had checked-in their bags, but they didn’t board. Since then passenger-baggage reconciliation has been made mandatory . Even if one passenger has not boarded and his/her bag has been checked in, it has to be removed before the plane can depart. This is a major security breach and an inquiry should be conducted,” Mohanan told the Times of India.
