New Delhi, February 27
As many as 298 passengers of Air India’s flight to New York via London were stranded here in the morning. The crew of their flight refused to take off, saying their duty hours were over.

Passengers of AI-111, the Delhi-London-New York flight which was scheduled to leave at 7.20 am this morning, were left waiting at the airport for hours following a delay in the flight and the crew’s refusal.

“We are trying to get a crew to fly in from Mumbai to take the flight,” Air India spokesperson S. Chandra Kumar said. The flight is getting delayed also because of restrictions at London airport, which does not allow the flights to land after 6 pm. So we have to take care of that also,” he said.

The flight which was to take off in the morning was delayed as three passengers had to disembark and their baggage removed from the aircraft. “The passengers are at the airport as they could not be accommodated in hotels which are running full,” the spokesman said. “The passenger going to London will be accommodated in other flights of Air India and other airlines, while the passengers bound for New York will board a direct flight,” Kumar said.