Priyanka Tiwari
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Suspense crime, Digital Desk : Passengers on a Lufthansa flight bound for Hyderabad, India, found themselves on a long and frustrating journey to nowhere after their plane was forced to make a U-turn mid-flight and return to Germany. The issue was not a technical glitch or bad weather, but a critical administrative error: the airline had failed to secure the necessary Indian visas for a new flight crew.
Lufthansa flight LH 752 departed from Frankfurt on May 17, embarking on what should have been a routine long-haul journey. However, several hours into the flight, while the Airbus A340 was over the Black Sea, Indian aviation authorities denied it permission to land in Hyderabad.
The root of the problem was a planned crew change in India. The flight was scheduled to operate with a new crew on its return leg from Hyderabad, but this incoming crew did not possess the required Indian visas. According to India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), this is a direct violation of regulations, and permission to land was consequently refused.
Forced to turn back, the aircraft flew all the way back to its point of departure, landing in Frankfurt after a total flight time of approximately 12 hours. Passengers, who had expected to be in India, ended up exactly where they had started, facing significant disruption to their travel plans.
Upon their unexpected return, passengers were stranded at Frankfurt Airport. Lufthansa apologized for the major inconvenience, citing "operational reasons" for the cancellation. The airline worked to rebook the affected travelers on alternative flights and provided them with hotel accommodation.
The incident highlights a significant operational failure by the major European airline, leading to a cancelled flight, a wasted 12-hour journey, and considerable chaos for hundreds of passengers, all due to a preventable visa-related oversight.
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