Go First Fined Rs 10 Lakh By DGCA After Flight Left Behind 55 Passengers In Bus

On January 9, a Go First flight bound for Delhi left the Bengaluru airport leaving behind over 50 passengers who were waiting in a shuttle bus for boarding.

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New Delhi: The aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday fined airline operator Go First Rs 10 lakh after one of its flights took off for Delhi earlier this month, leaving more than 50 passengers behind at the Bengaluru airport.

On January 9, a Go First flight bound for Delhi left the Bengaluru airport leaving behind over 50 passengers who were waiting in a shuttle bus for boarding.

Some passengers took to social media and said that a bus full of passengers were not allowed to board the Go First flight from Bengaluru to Delhi. The flight, numbered G8 116, departed at 6:40 am on January 9, leaving the passengers behind, according to reports.

Go First declined to comment on the incident. However, in response to one of the tweets, the airline had asked users to share their details and said they regretted the inconvenience caused.

 Ticket holders took to social media to vent their anger.

"Flight G8 116 (BLR-DEL) flew leaving passengers on ground! More than 50 passengers on 1 bus were left on ground & the flight took off with just passengers of 1 bus on boarded. Is @GoFirstairways @JM_Scindia @PMOIndia operating in sleep? No Basic checks!" a passenger named Satish Kumar tweeted.

Earlier, DGCA had issued a show cause notice to the airline operator following the incident.

DGCA in its statement said that "multiple mistakes" led to the incident. "... in the instant case, multiple mistakes such as lack of proper communication, co-ordination, reconciliation and confirmation have resulted in a highly avoidable situation." 

"The airline failed to ensure adequate arrangement for ground handling, preparation of load and trim sheet, flight dispatch and passenger/cargo handling," DGCA said in a statement.

Apologising for the incident, the airline in its statement said, "We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of flight G8 116, from Bengaluru to Delhi."