This was possible only because the pilots chose to work beyond their flight duty time limit (FDTL) that allows a pilot only one landing in a long haul flight.
To avoid inconvenience to passengers and cost to the company, Air India pilots flying AI 126(Chicago- Delhi) and AI 174 (San Francisco to Delhi) decided to make some special efforts. They went beyond their flying time limits (FDTL), according to the AI Pilots’ union.
It was the closure of the Afghanistan airspace on Monday that led to flight cancellations and diversions. So the two Air India flights from the United States that would have used Afghanistan air space to arrive in Delhi had to be re-routed.
They were made to halt in the UAE for fuel. The two flights that were carrying roughly 600 passengers finally landed in Delhi only a few hours behind schedule.
This was possible only because the pilots chose to work beyond their flight duty time limit (FDTL) that allows a pilot only one landing in a long haul flight, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The closure of #kabulairport and #Afghanistan airspace caused major disruption. Kudos to our member pilots and the crew of AI126. With limited time to react and with inadequate fuel for Delhi, they managed a diversion to #Sharjah
A senior official from the airline said the pilots might have considered that obeying their FDTL could cause complications. While the flight from Chicago landed in Delhi at 6.15pm, the San Francisco flight that was ideally to land in Delhi at 3pm, landed at around 7.40pm.
Air India’s Boeing pilots’ union tweeted, “To avoid major inconvenience to the passengers and cost to the company, they opted to extend their FDTL and safely operated another sector. Over 24 hours in uniform, they landed safely in #Delhi. All in a day’s work for @airindiain pilots.
The closure of #kabulairport and #Afghanistan airspace caused major disruption. Kudos to our member pilots and the crew of AI126. With limited time to react and with inadequate fuel for Delhi, they managed a diversion to #Sharjah.”
