Biman flight delayed; 150 passengers left amid dark, humid condition for hours

About 150 passengers were stuck inside a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight for four hours on Monday without any food or air conditioning for almost four hours at Kolkata airport.

The Boeing 737 flight was scheduled to depart from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport for Dhaka airport at 8:35pm on Monday (18 July). However, the aircraft could not take off due to technical difficulties.

The flight was scheduled to reach Dhaka around 10pm, but it reached Shahjalal International Airport at 1:42am on Tuesday, confirmed Biman Bangladesh's Public Relations General Manager Tahera Khandker.

She said that the flight was delayed due to technical glitches and the protocol is to fix the issues after turning off the lights of the aircraft.

That is what was done, and the passengers could not be let off as there is a restriction at Kolkata airport. Once boarded, passengers cannot be let down at the airport again, she added.

Passengers said that after waiting for an hour the airplane was taken to the runway, but it was again halted and taken to the bay area.

Several passengers fell ill due to the heat as the air conditioning was turned off inside the aircraft. They were not even served any food.

"It's been two hours since the AC has been turned off. Maybe they [Biman authorities] started obeying the power minister's order early. The passengers are in a deplorable state. Let us down!" said one of the passengers in a Facebook post.

The plane started for Bangladesh almost after four hours of the scheduled time and reached Dhaka airport at 1:42am.

Tahera Khandker said that the plane was taken to the hanger for repair work and is fit to fly again today.