A passenger aboard an AirAsia flight recorded the scary moment the cabin appeared to fill with some sort of smoke or gas while waiting on the tarmac on Tuesday.
But according to Dipankar Ray, the passenger who recorded the incident, the fumes are the result of the plane’s air conditioning being turned on “full blast” – itself a reaction to a standoff between passengers and crew.
“The flight was scheduled to depart at 9 a.m. and was initially delayed by 30 minutes. After boarding, we kept sitting inside the aircraft for one-and-a-half hours with no food or water at all,” Ray told The Times of India.
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After an extended wait, Ray says the crew asked passengers to disembark the aircraft, something many were reluctant to do due to outside weather conditions.
“When passengers refused to deboard due to heavy rains outside, the captain put the air-conditioning blower on full blast to hound the passengers out.”
Air Asia Flight I5582, the flight in question, was scheduled to depart Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, India, on Wednesday morning for Bagdogra.
According to FlightAware, a global flight-tracking database, the flight was delayed by nearly five hours on June 20.
“This is the way Aviation industry works in India. This #AirAsiaservice was particularly scary…” Ray said in a Facebook post sharing his video, which prompted a response for AirAsia shortly after the clip went viral in India.
In a statement to media, AirAsia acknowledged the delay but said safety was their principal concern and passengers experienced no ill-treatment.
“AirAsia India would like to confirm that flight 15583 from Kolkata to Bagdogra was delayed by 4.5 hours due to a technical requirement. All affected guests were offered refreshments and provided with alternate arrangements requested for. AirAsia regrets the inconvenience caused to guests on account of this disruption and would like to reinstate that the airline always prioritizes safety above all.”
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The company also maintains the steam and fog created by the air conditioning was not malicious, and posed no danger to the health of passengers.
“There was no danger to any of the occupants on-board the aircraft as the cool conditioned air being circulated was condensing,” the company said.
“This is a normal occurrence on-board all aircraft when the air conditioning is operated in high humidity conditions.”
But Ray maintains that no such assurances about the health of passengers were offered at the time.
“It created a scary scene as heavy fog was created inside the plane and it was very suffocating,” Ray said.
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