SIA investigating serious allegations made by passenger on delayed Singapore-India flight

[SINGAPORE] Singapore Airlines (SIA) is looking into serious allegations made by a passenger on a recent flight from Singapore to India, which was delayed by almost three hours.

SQ516, operating from Singapore to Kolkata on June 8, had experienced technical issues on the ground resulting in a delay of two hours and 52 minutes.

In a posting, Facebook user Chandni Doulatramani, who was on the plane, claims that cabin crew were rude to passengers who had asked why the plane was delayed.

In her post, accompanied by a video which has since gone viral, Ms Chandni said that upset passengers, who had already boarded the plane, became more upset when they were allegedly told to remain in their seats with their seatbelts on.

She added: "When we confronted the cabin crew, they had no answers, rudely shut us up, threatened to call the cops to arrest us, and said 'we are in the same situation as you are, don't ask us, we don't know anything',".

She said: "The airline didn't let anybody go. We were being treated like prisoners, being asked to sit in our seats and wear our seatbelts. They told us if we were going to offload ourselves then we wouldn't be allowed back in and they would put us on another plane which was two days later and they wouldn't compensate us for any of it."

In the video she posted, passengers are seen arguing with airline staff.

SIA told The Straits Times: "We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers on board. With regards to the online post, we take these claims seriously and will be looking into them thoroughly."

THE STRAITS TIMES