Passengers on board an Air Mauritius flight were stuck on the aircraft for over five hours at Mumbai airport on Saturday before the airline decided to cancel it, one among the flyers said.

The Air Mauritius flight MK 749 from Mumbai to Mauritius was to depart at 4.30 am and passengers boarded the plane from 3.45 am onwards, he said.

There were nearly 200 passengers on board, including a 78-year-old man who developed a breathing problem as the aircraft’s air-conditioning system was not working, he alleged.

Air Mauritius GSA (general sales agent) in India did not respond to phone calls from PTI.

“The plane developed an engine problem but the passengers remained locked inside the plane for over five hours and were not allowed to come out,” he said.

Though the airline called engineers with spare parts to fix the engine glitch, it could not be rectified. “Finally, around 10 am the captain announced that the flight had been cancelled,” he said.

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