34 nightmarish hours aboard the Queen of Heaven
The other day my brother was supposed to take a simple flight from Catania to Genoa, but shortly after departure the [...]
The other day my brother was supposed to take a simple flight from Catania to Genoa, but shortly after departure the captain announced that due to technical problems they were forced to return to the Sicilian port.
In this article:
It was late and there were no replacement flights, so the airline paid for him to stay one night in a partner hotel so he could leave the next morning. Contingencies that will have happened to many of us, especially for those who see the plane several times a month.
It happened recently on a flight Lufthansa departed Frankfurt and headed to Bangalore, India, the flight duration was to be just under 9 hours, departing 1:05 p.m. and arriving 1:25 a.m. (local time).
After departing regularly from Frankfurt and ascending to cruising altitude, there was a'medical emergency on board as the plane flew over Turkey. The pilot had to perform a deviation and then land at Istanbul airport.
The plane landed practically almost at half of the route, at around 7:00 p.m. local time, the passenger received medical treatment and was expected to be able to leave, but that was not the case.
The stopover did not go as planned; during the medical care on board and ashore, the supply of oxygen of the plane, which is for emergencies, and obviously had to be replaced before the plane could restart.
The replacement operations were protracted for 4 hours with passengers still on board, at which point the crew exhausted the time of operability, which meant that they necessarily had to rest Before continuing the flight.
Moral of the story, the passengers were made to return to the terminal until the plane received the okay to depart at 4:55 a.m., 34 hours after the first departure.
#LH754 @Lufthansa_DE Boarding after being stuck in Istanbul for 34 hours. Worst travel experience of our lives. pic.twitter.com/BBGu31rIUM
- Chris (@Chris16353519) October 20, 2022
The flight then departed with 36 hours delay, operating the remaining 6 hours from Istanbul to Bangalore.
"For safety reasons, the oxygen cylinders used to treat the medical emergency must be replaced before continuing the flight. Unfortunately, this took longer than originally planned.
Lufthansa deeply regrets the circumstances and is doing everything to minimize inconvenience to its passengers."
Lufthansa's note on the incident
No one is criticizing Lufthansa for diverting the route for a medical emergency, it can happen, the criticism came for not knowing how to manage optimally the situation, forcing passengers to be stranded for 34 hours.
The company let it be known that it tried to find some rooms hotel and offer lounge access, but given the important number Of passengers failed to succeed. In short, one misfortune after another.
Has this kind of delay ever happened to you? Let us know in the comments!
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