IndiGo Airlines has landed in controversy after actor-turned-MLA Roja Selvamani said she would file a 'defamation suit' against the carrier for a diversion that caused a flight bound for Tirupati was diverted to Bengaluru. The MLA boarded the flight to travel and was travelling alongside former Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu.
"Passengers were not informed of the reasons for the delay and the change of destination," she said. The YSRCP MLA said that she will file a defamation suit against IndiGo and its management for demanding excess money, changing the destination, and delay in travel.
However IndiGo released a statement putting down the diversion to technical issues that required the plane land immediately for checks. It denied that any extra charges had been collected from passengers.
"IndiGo flight 6E 7265 flying from Rajahmundry to to Tirupati was diverted to Bangalore due to technical reasons. The passengers were served refreshments on board and the flight was released after maintenance checks. Some passengers wished to offload from the aircraft and were accommodated on the next available flight or escorted out of the airport as per their request. No charges were collected from the passengers who decided to self-offload at Bangalore airport," the official statement reads.
MLA Roja told Sakshi TV that she had experienced severe pain from sitting long hours in the flight due to the delay as she was recovering from a surgery. This forced her to self-offload from the plane, she said. Roja also said that there was "panic and restlessness" amongst passengers. The airline then demanded an extra 5000 from everyone who chose to get off the plane, she alleged.
Renigunta Airport sources told IANS that the flight landed safely at Bengaluru. They said that the aircraft had been diverted there because the Renigunta Airport is not equipped to repair the technical issue.