Pilot delays flight for 'appam with prawn curry'

Chennai: An Air India pilot’s desire to have appam with prawn curry for lunch triggered a chain of events that led to an inordinate delay in his flight taking off, sources said on Sunday. The Kochi-origin IC-519 on August 29 was bound for Chennai via Bangalore.
After piloting IC-509, which landed at Kochi at 11.30 am, Captain Dinakaran was supposed to fly IC-519 out at 2.15 pm. “When the crew members were taken for lunch to Hotel Abad, which is a five minute drive away, the captain demanded appam with prawn curry without touching anything on the buffet spread,” an airline source in Kochi revealed.
When appam and prawn curry was served at his table after some time, he refused to eat it. Then he refused to operate the flight saying he had not had lunch.
“The flight was rescheduled for a 4 pm take off, but the captain failed to show up,” a passenger told Express.
After finishing his meal at the airport restaurant at 4.30 pm, Capt Dinakaran reportedly said that he was stressed out and fatigued.
This enraged the passengers, who created a ruckus. At this, AI duty managers literally fell at the captain’s feet and he agreed to operate the flight that was set for takeoff at 7.30 pm, sources said.
By then, an overused battery power unit of the aircraft drained out and a new one had to be flown in from Chennai. So the flight could take off only at 9 pm, a Kochi airport source said.
06/09/10 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India Domestic Sep 2010, airports Sep 2010, NACIL Sep 2010