<\/p>\nDoor jammed, evacuation rushed
<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Vinodh said he was seated on OO1 A and evacuation began quickly through door 1L. \u201cI exited through 1L and was among the first to get out,\u201d he said. However, he pointed to a possible issue at another exit. \u201cDoor 1R did not open. The flight attendant tried but couldn\u2019t open it \u2014 whether due to a malfunction or panic, I don\u2019t know.\u201dAs panic spread, passengers in economy class faced a more chaotic situation. \u201cThere was a lot of clamour and some safety protocols were even breached in the rush,\u201d he claimed. Several passengers sustained injuries while using the emergency slides, with reports of fractures and sprains.Officials confirmed that four passengers were hospitalised and a crew member suffered a minor injury.Despite confusion over a possible fuel spillage, Vinod praised the airline crew. \u201cThe Swiss crew did a great job calming people down and distributing water. Everyone was in shock, but they handled it well.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2018No leadership on ground\u2019
<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Vinod sharply criticised the response at the airport after evacuation. \u201cThere was no ambulance initially, only a fire brigade. We waited for 10-15 minutes for medical help, and nearly 40 minutes on the runway overall,\u201d he said.He said the situation inside the terminal deteriorated further. \u201cThere was no proper headcount, no announcements, no leadership. It felt like a headless chicken\u2014 people were running around trying to count passengers,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n\u201840-50 forms for 200+ passengers, only one pen\u2019
<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Vinod said that the process became increasingly disorganised. \u201cThey brought 40\u201350 contact information cards for over 200 passengers and distributed them randomly. There weren\u2019t enough cards \u2014 and there was only one pen,\u201d he said.Communication was another major issue. \u201cThere was no announcement system or megaphone. Staff could only communicate with 15\u201320 people at a time. Counting was being done by just two or three people.\u201dSoon after, another form was introduced, adding to confusion. \u201cPeople didn\u2019t even know if they were filling the right form. There were 25\u201330 staff members \u2014 all wanting to help, but no training, no drills, no leadership.\u201dHe also recounted instances of unprofessional behaviour. \u201cSome junior staff were too engrossed in chit-chat on the spot. I had to ask them to at least help us get a pen.\u201d<\/p>\n‘Hours of confusion’
<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
It took hours before officials began calling out passenger names using a roster, Vinod said. \u201cEven simple process like counting names took 3-4 hours and was confusing. They stopped midway at times.\u201d\u2018Random snacks, long wait for baggage\u2019Basic refreshments were limited and poorly distributed. \u201cThey gave vada pav and tea \u2014 that too for maybe 20 people. It was random and not suitable for many international passengers,\u201d he said.Passengers received their baggage only around 6am, and even that took another hour to complete distribution properly.<\/p>\n\u2018Strangers sharing rooms\u2019
<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Vinod said passengers were later sent to a hotel in Connaught Place, rather than closer options near the airport. \u201cAll passengers were taken to the same hotel. They could have arranged something in Aerocity,\u201d he said.\u201cThere was no representative at the hotel to guide us. Two complete strangers were put in the same room \u2014 it was very ill-managed.\u201d Passengers reached the hotel around 10am.While the passenger acknowledged the professionalism of the airline crew, he stressed the need for systemic improvements at the airport. \u201cThe crew handled the emergency well, but the airport response was completely inadequate,\u201d he said.\u201cI think it\u2019s important that the incompetence of Delhi airport is highlighted so that they can fix it. God forbid if there were an emergency at the terminal, lives could have been lost, they need to be better prepared,\u201d he said.The flight eventually departed the next day, reaching Zurich safely. Meanwhile, authorities continue to investigate what caused the engine failure that forced the aborted take-off.Swiss International Air Lines said in a statement that the incident occurred shortly after 1am on April 26 during the takeoff of flight LX147 in Delhi, when an engine issue forced the crew to abort takeoff and evacuate the aircraft as a precaution. The Airbus A330 (HB-JHK) had 228 passengers, four infants and 13 crew on board. All passengers were assisted, accommodated and rebooked. Four passengers remain hospitalised, while one crew member suffered a minor ankle injury. The airline said a task force has been set up and an investigation is underway, adding that safety remains its top priority.<\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A first-person account by a Mumbai-born passenger now based in Switzerland highlights panic during evacuation and alleged mismanagement on the ground. NEW DELHI: Barely 24 hours after a SWISS Delhi-Zurich flight aborted take-off at IGI Airport following an engine fire, a passenger who was on board has described the evacuation as swift and professional inside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-delhi"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"SWISS](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130548141,imgsize-1177431,width-400,height-225,resizemode-72\/a-first-person-account-by-a-mumbai-born-passenger-now-based-in-switzerland-highlights-panic-during-evacuation-and-alleged-mismanagement-on-the-ground.jpg\" "\\"A")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n