Tuesday was a very difficult day for passengers traveling from Chennai to Singapore. In the Indigo flight, about 200 passengers were stuck inside the plane without air conditioning (AC) for 4 to 5 hours. Due to heat and suffocation, the condition of the passengers deteriorated and there was screaming inside the plane. This incident happened on 24 February 2026, after which the Civil Aviation Ministry has now ordered an investigation.
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What happened inside the flight?
According to reports, IndiGo flight number 6E 1025 was to take off from Chennai to Singapore at 7:20 am. The passengers boarded the plane on time, but before takeoff a technical fault occurred and the plane’s AC system stopped. The temperature in the closed plane started increasing rapidly due to which the passengers started having difficulty in breathing.
Many small children and elderly people were also on board the plane. In videos that surfaced on social media, passengers were seen drenched in sweat and using magazines for air. Passengers described the situation as a ‘gas chamber’. The problem was further compounded when the pilot’s duty hours (FDTL) expired while the technical fault was being repaired, further delaying the flight while waiting for a new pilot. Finally the plane could take off at around 11:40 pm.
What do the rules say and what action will be taken now?
The passengers allege that they were kept sitting in the plane for so long against the rules. According to experts, if there is a possibility of long delay in the flight, then it is necessary to deboard the passengers back to the terminal for safety and health reasons. Now the government has become strict on complaints of violation of DGCA rules.
Considering the seriousness of the matter, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered an official inquiry. At the same time, Indigo airline has apologized for the trouble caused to the passengers and attributed the delay to technical fault and crew duty time limitation. The situation at the spot had worsened so much that the help of CISF personnel had to be taken to handle the angry passengers.
