Ground staff and the flight attendants did not brief the flight’s captain and co-pilot that the flight’s number had been changed, officials say.
Buddha Air’s ATR 72 landed at Pokhara Airport at around 4 pm local time on Friday, instead of Janakpur with 69 passengers on board. The passengers were shocked as they stepped off the plane and found out that they had come to Pokhara.
Due to unfavorable weather, carriers were making use of every available weather window to take the passengers on board as quickly as possible and take off.
Buddha Air’s flight U4505 was cleared to take off for Janakpur airport. The flight was delayed and took off from Tribhuwan International Airport, with its estimated arrival time at Janakpur by 3:15 pm.
However, in the meantime, due to weather issues, the airline changed flight numbers, and the ground staff re-assigned the 69 passengers to flight U4607 bound to Pokhara rather than U4505. However, the passengers were only transferred on paper.
The flight numbers changed as Pokhara flights were permitted until 15:00 local time under the visual flight rules (VFR).
“The weather was already causing flight delays, and to make up for the flying time, Buddha Air officials decided to fly to Pokhara first,” said a Buddha Air official.
“The difference in flight schedule between Janakpur and Pokhara was 15 to 20 minutes,” the officer added.
Feature Image: “Susheel Bhattarai“
