Phoonk @ BIAL

Ok. This is quiet old news. This is what happens when I leave some posts in draft for a long time. 🙂

Rumours of a ‘ghost’ take off at BIAL
Hemanth C S | ENS – 29 Sep 2008 05:11:00 AM IST

BANGALORE: After capacity constraints, connectivity hurdles and criticism from all and sundry over shabby infrastructure, there is now a problem quite without precedent at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA).

Rumours have been doing the rounds for the past week that airport staff have been seeing ghosts on the runway. The description of the ghost has been varied: its gender, attire and features all change, depending on who sees it. A few claim that the ghost is a woman in a white saree, while others say the mysterious creature is headless.

A Kingfisher employee who works at the Cargo section told to this website’s newspaper that the ghost, a woman in a white saree with her hair flying loose, has been wandering on the runway. He said this saree-clad ghost had disrupted flight movements. “A pilot of an international carrier had to abort landing after spotting a ‘woman’ with outstretched hands in the middle of the runway. Finally, after two failed attempts, when the ‘woman’ did not move from the runway, the pilot could only land in his third attempt,” he said.

Unplanned flight?

And these guys are promising us a safe journey? They don’t even know how to co-ordinate between their own teams…. And now with the lay offs, they have lesser people to manage things… 😀

A baggage loader at the Delhi airport nearly reached Pune when the doors of the Kingfisher Red flight closed and the plane started moving while he was still inside. The ground staff employee was reportedly helping a sick passenger with his cabin baggage.

Baggage loaders usually put registered luggage inside the cargo hold area of the plane and do not enter the aircraft.

The incident occurred on Monday at 10 am when the Kingfisher Red flight IT-3342 began the taxiing process for Pune. It had 154 passengers onboard.

“The security staff at the step ladder asked him to assist the passenger in carrying the baggage from boarding gate to aircraft and come back quickly,” said an airline source, requesting anonymity. As the passenger was not well, the loader was further asked to arrange the hand baggage inside the overhead bin.

Meanwhile, the pilot got permission to taxi and the doors were closed.

“The plane had started moving as it was being pushed back from the parking bay. At this the loader, who was arranging the baggage panicked and alerted the cabin crew,” the source said.

The doors of the plane closed at 10 am. After the fiasco, the plane doors were closed again at 10.15 am and it again started the taxiing process at 10.20 am.

“Before the aircraft doors are closed, the cabin crew does a headcount and fills a sheet. It is strange how they missed the loader who was inside the plane,” the source said. “The incident shows the cabin crew and also the duty manager took the whole process very casually,” he said.

The Kingfisher spokesman couldn’t be contacted for comments over the phone despite repeated attempts.