5 hours ago
SpiceJet is one of the leading private airlines in India
About 17 passengers on board a SpiceJet plane were injured following it was severely malfunctioning before landing on Sunday evening.
The plane, a Boeing 737, carrying 200 passengers and crew, was on a flight from Mumbai to Durgapur, and Amit Paul, who was on board the plane, recounts the difficult moments.
The plane took off on a warm Sunday evening from Mumbai at 5.13 pm, on a two-hour flight to the eastern city of Durgapur, where I live and work as a businessman.
There was nothing unusual, during the flight, the plane was full of passengers, we were served food on time, and the passengers were either asleep or busy browsing their mobile phones.
I had traveled six times in the last four months between Mumbai and Durgapur, and preferred SpiceJet as it offers a direct flight.
I felt some slight turbulence 35 minutes before my scheduled landing, but once more, I noticed nothing unusual regarding it. I was sitting on a bench by the aisle in the last row, and I fastened my seat belt.
However, things got worse when the plane began to descend, and the next quarter hour was regarding the worst moment of my life.
I don’t know if we were flying in a storm, but the plane started bouncing up and down and sideways, the plane was bouncing up and down like a rubber ball.
I felt like I had fallen off a 100-story building and had been kicked to that height within seconds. I tightened the seat belt and clamped it firmly to the seat handle.
picture released, Amit Baul
About 17 passengers were injured due to the malfunction of the plane
I saw passengers, who may have forgotten to fasten their belts, tossing up and down their seats, crashing into overhead lockers. They were badly injured, including two men who were sitting next to me who were slightly injured because they may not have tightened their belts.
A woman was sitting in front of me with her 11-year-old daughter. I saw them both bounce off their seats several times and hit their heads in the luggage locker. The last time, the lady fell at my foot which was protruding in the aisle, and the lady was so badly injured that she remained on the floor, clinging to the handles of the benches.
The passengers were crying and screaming, some of them began to pray, I tried to look out the window, I saw nothing but darkness, and the pilot kept urging the passengers to wear their seat belts.
There was a complete mess, with food waste flying out of the kitchen, leftover food and beverage cups and cans, as well as detaching food trays and seat handles.
The oxygen tanks opened and the masks fell. Many people were injured. I saw spots of blood on the ceiling. Some passengers were urging people to ask for ice to relieve the pain and swelling caused by their injuries.
I heard a passenger say to the flight attendant, who was jogging down the aisle to help a passenger, “Ma’am, do something quick.”
Another passenger said, “Just pray, keep praying.”
I felt in an instant that I would never go home, and when the plane finally landed at 7.15pm, I felt like I had come back from the jaws of death.
picture released, Amit Baul
Amit Paul took a selfie following the plane landed in Durgapur on Sunday evening
We thanked the pilots so much, and set out for a hot summer night in Durgapur. The worst was ahead.
Ambulances were an hour late to arrive and take the injured passengers to the hospital, and there were no doctors at all.
A paramedic was distributing sedatives and dressings, there weren’t enough wheelchairs, many passengers arrived at the arrivals hall limp, and it was clear that Durgapur Airport had no basic medical facilities.
When I went to the hospital later in the evening for an x-ray due to swelling in my feet, I saw many passengers on the plane receiving treatment for wounds and undergoing a medical examination, and I discovered that the woman who was sitting in the front seat had severe injuries to her stomach and shoulders.
And(The Indian Civil Aviation Authority has ordered an investigation into the accident, and said in a statement that the plane experienced a “severe malfunction” during landing, and “the autopilot stopped for two minutes.” And he might The crew controls the aircraft manually.).