In a rare aviation lapse, a passenger aboard an Air India Express (AIX) flight from Srinagar to Bagdogra via Delhi inadvertently missed disembarking at his intended stop in Delhi and ended up in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday evening. According to The New Indian Express (TNIE), the young male passenger reportedly fell asleep and failed to respond to repeated arrival announcements at Indira Gandhi International Airport, where he was supposed to change flights for Bagdogra. As several Bagdogra-bound passengers were continuing on the same aircraft, the oversight went unnoticed by the airline crew.
The error only came to light mid-air when the passenger alerted the crew that he had missed his stop. His luggage, as per standard protocol, had already been offloaded in Delhi. The passenger apologised for the mix-up, and Air India Express promptly arranged his return to Delhi, from where he was rebooked to Bagdogra. He was back in the capital by 8 pm and later reached his final destination.
The incident has triggered an internal airline investigation along with a formal probe by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). A source quoted by TNIE revealed that the mandatory headcount of all seated passengers before take-off from Delhi was not conducted, pointing to a serious lapse in standard security procedures. The failure to follow this protocol before boarding new passengers has raised concerns over passenger safety and operational oversight within the airline.
