Ahmedabad: There was panic among passengers of a Lion Air flight from Bangkok to Ahmedabad after the air conditioning system failed mid-air. Passengers felt dizzy and one of them fell unconscious. The aircraft then turned back towards Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport from where it had taken off.
“The air conditioning system failed soon after take-off. Passengers said they had difficulty breathing. A woman passenger passed out and had to be cared for by the cabin crew. The pilot then decided to return to Bangkok,” a passenger said.
The panic could be linked to the recent Air India Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad that resulted in the death of 260 people. Failure of the air conditioning system was taken as total power failure by many, leading to the panic.
After landing back at Bangkok, the passengers were told that flight SL-212 has been cancelled. This was after technical staff inspected the aircraft and declared it unfit to fly. It was only after the 140-odd passengers started protesting that Lion Air arranged for another aircraft.
The process took several hours, passengers complained. Some of them said that there was no communication from Lion Air regarding the cause of the AC failure. Sources said that the aircraft’s Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) may have developed a snag.
