NEW DELHI – In an unusual turn of events, an international IndiGo flight was compelled to execute a U-turn back to the airport, citing an unexpected ‘memory lapse’ within the airline’s operations.
Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft en route to Bengaluru, India, was compelled to get back to Singapore Changi Airport, reversing its course, a move prompted by the airline’s inadvertent failure to unload passenger luggage from a preceding international flight.
The Airbus A321neo touched down once again at Changi approximately one hour after its initial departure, resulting in a substantial delay of four hours for the passengers on board.
The circumstances surrounding how the ground staff overlooked the removal of bags from the earlier flight remain unclear. Additionally, it has not been specified whether this oversight affected all bags from the preceding flight or only a portion of them.
In response to the incident, the airline also issued a statement, stating, “We acknowledge the baggage error on the part of our service partners at Singapore airport. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our valued passengers.” The statement did not provide further details regarding the nature of the oversight or the service partners involved.
This incident is not an isolated event for IndiGo Airlines which has a history of such mismanagement. In an earlier gaffe, the airline neglected to facilitate the connection of an elderly couple to their India-bound flight, resulting in the couple being stranded for over 24 hours at the Istanbul airport.
The couple, one of whom relied on a wheelchair, was on a journey from London to Mumbai. The London-Istanbul portion was operated by Turkish Airlines, with the subsequent leg to Mumbai operated by IndiGo. After enduring a day of waiting in terminal chairs in Istanbul, their ordeal finally came to an end.
