Tuesday 28 June 2022

Passengers faint on Go First flight after AC stops working

Imagine flying on a smooth flight when suddenly, the air conditioning system on the aircraft stops working, and the flight experience plunges into extreme heat and discomfort. That's precisely what happened on a Go First flight.

Flight G8 2316 was headed from Dehradun (DED/VIDN) to Mumbai (BOM/VABB), a scheduled two-hour domestic daily flight that Go First operates using the Airbus A320. It is unsure when the incident occurred, but the problem was brought to light when Twitter user Roshni Walia shared a viral video of passengers using the safety instruction card as a handheld fan.

In her tweet, Walia claimed that the flight was one of the worst experiences, with a full flight in the peak summer heat and no air-conditioning to cool and ventilate midair. Walia also claimed that the lack of proper ventilation midair had caused a few passengers to pass out and even made a chemotherapy patient feel highly uncomfortable as she had difficulty breathing.

Besides the desperation seen in passengers trying to fan themselves, the video also showed another woman escorting a passenger through the aisle to a seat in the front in an attempt to get better air for her comfort. The same woman was commenting:

"Everybody is feeling so hot...flight took off 5:30, it's 6:20 now, yet AC is not working. A cancer patient is feeling claustrophobic. The flight should never have taken off if the AC wasn't working. We paid Rs 12,000 ($153.35) for one-way ticket. For what? Please do something, take action Go First."

Even though the video was late in becoming viral, it still garnered enough rile on Twitter with several users tagging the ultra-low-cost carrier's handle. Perhaps what irked them further was the airline's eventual nonchalant reply:

“Hi, we thank you for reaching out to us, and we are with you in your time of need. Kindly share your PNR, contact number, and email ID via DM so our team can take a look."

Air conditioning on aircraft is required to cool off the engine's bleed air to keep the cabin comfortable for passengers, and there are two packs as a mandatory requirement. However, an aircraft's air conditioning system is supplied with engines. Even if one air conditioning pack fails, the other should suffice to keep the cabin comfortable enough. On the other hand, should the air conditioning system stopped working mid-flight as supposed in the incident of G8 2316. This would have meant that both engines had stopped working altogether.

Then the other possibility is that the flight crew for G8 2316 had set the desired temperature to be relatively hot and uncomfortable, which would also seem odd. It was also uncertain what altitude the flight was flying off when the air conditioning system malfunctioned. Still, the incident was enough for users to tag the aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA), pleading for them to maintain safety standards properly.

It was a day few days for Indian Airlines as another incident in India has come to light, this time with Alliance Air, where the faulty AC shot up the cabin temperature to 40 degrees so much that passengers had to leave the aircraft.

Passengers on a recent Alliance Air flight in South India had a troubling experience when a faulty air-conditioning system on their plane raised the cabin temperature to unbearably hot. Thankfully, the plane was on the ground, and the passengers could leave the aircraft.

Alliance Air flight 91517 is a scheduled service between Bengaluru (BLR/VOBL) and Hyderabad (HYD/VOHS) in South India. On the 24th June as the ATR aircraft was preparing for departure at 18:40, one of the passengers shouted that ‘hot air’ was coming from the blower. Soon after, the temperature of the entire cabin became extremely hot, reaching 42 degrees Celsius. 

“The temperature was rising by the minute inside the aircraft when the propellers began to spin and ready to take off. From normal room temperature, it shot up to 42 degrees.”





Stories sourced from here

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