Plane door ripped off

'Sorry, Subodhji, no boarding, plane doors have been shut'

Now, this is a rarity in our country. Veteran leader and Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay was refused boarding by the Air India authorities as he reported late at the Mumbai airport for a Ranchi flight on July 26.

An enraged Sahay allegedly threw his weight around, even threatened the staff that he would speak to civil aviation minister Praful Patel, but the AI authorities did not budge.
The drama began close to 8 am, when Sahay, a state minister in the food processing industries ministry, walked into the airport to board flight IC 809 to Ranchi via Delhi. It was just 15 minutes to departure when Sahay came in.



An airport source said, "Sahay was shocked when he was not allowed to board. As per the DGCA guidelines, pilots must seek a pushback clearance 15 minutes before the departure. This means all passengers have to be on board before that."
Sahay admitted he was not allowed to board, but blamed the airline.

Denying he threatened anyone, Sahay said, "It was all because of airline's mistake. I reached the airport 15 minutes before the departure. The airline staff told me that the plane is parked near the international terminal and it will take 20 minutes for me to reach it. I would have come earlier had I been told about the boarding time. I travel daily and have never inconvenienced fellow passengers."