Delhi-Pune Indigo flight faces over 4-hour delay after pilot falls sick before takeoff

(Representational/File image)

A Delhi-Pune IndiGo flight which was headed for Pune was delayed by 4.5 hours after its pilot fell sick just before the takeoff on Friday.

In a statement on Saturday, Indigo airline said that it provided "appropriate" medical assistance to the pilot and arranged for an alternative crew to operate the flight, 6E2262, on July 4.

IndiGo said in a statement, "One of our cockpit crew scheduled to operate IndiGo flight 6E 2262 from Delhi to Pune on July 4, felt unwell before take-off and the aircraft returned to bay, following the standard operating procedures (SOP)."

The ariline informed that appropriate medical assistance was provided to the unwell crew and an alternative crew was assigned to operate the aircraft, causing a delay in the flight.

However, according to flight tracking website flightradar24.com, the IndiGo flight, which was scheduled to depart at 6 am from Delhi Airport, was delayed by 4.30 hours, and it took off for Pune at 10.27 am due to the incident.

"Additionally, the flight was further delayed due to temporary restrictions at Pune Airport," IndiGo said in the statement, justifying the over four-hour delay to its flight.

In a similar incident on Friday, an Air India commander had collapsed inside the cockpit just when he was getting ready to operate the Tata Group airline's flight to Delhi from Bengaluru.

Confirming that there was a "medical emergency" involving one of its pilots on its flight AI 2414 to Delhi from Bengaluru in the early hours of July 4, Air India said, "There was a medical emergency involving one of our pilots in the early hours of July 4. As a result, the pilot was unable to operate the flight AI2414 from Bengaluru to Delhi, that he was rostered for, and was taken to a local hospital immediately."

Also read - Air India pilot collapses moments before operating Bengaluru-Delhi flight