Passengers stranded on plane for 8 hours
17.10.11
A plane full of passengers were stranded on an Air India aircraft on the tarmac at Gatwick Airport for more than 8 hours yesterday after fog caused their flight to be diverted. At one point Sussex Police were called to the flight to prevent a breach of the peace as tempers among passengers flared when they were not allowed off the plane.
The plane was flying from Mumbai to Heathrow when the weather conditions forced it to divert to Gatwick at about 08:00 yesterday. It only resumed its journey at 17:00, arriving at Heathrow 20 minutes later after flight of around 25 miles.
A spokesman for Gatwick Airport said the airline had to wait for a replacement crew before the flight could complete its journey, because those on board were over their flying time limit. A BBC World Service reporter on board said he did not know why the passengers were prevented from disembarking the aircraft. Many would have been happy to pass through Gatwick and make their onward journey from there. Air India was unavailable for comment.
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