Kolkata: A suspected snag in the landing gear, probably due to hydraulics or electrical issue, delayed the departure of a Qatar Airways flight from Kolkata airport on Monday. The aircraft in use was a Boeing B 787-8 twinjet. The airline alternates between this aircraft and an Airbus A 350-900 twinjet on this sector. Flight QR 540 reached Kolkata at 2. 14 am, around 6 minutes before the scheduled arrival. However, the return flight QR 541 departed nearly 5 hours behind schedule. Sources said the pilots may have either experienced a problem with the deployment of the landing gear prior to touchdown or received an alert on the cockpit instrument panel about an issue with the landing gear. After passengers alighted from the aircraft, the boarding of Doha-bound passengers was kept on hold while engineers looked into the landing gear, including the hydraulics, to sort out the issue.
Frustrated passengers who were waiting at the airport without much information took to social media to vent out their frustration and sought clarity from the airline. "Extremely disappointed with Qatar Airways. Flight QR541 from Kolkata to Doha is delayed — was to land at 6. 20 am, now reaching at 10. 31 am. I was scheduled to participate in a golf tournament this afternoon. This delay puts all my plans at risk," wrote Anirudh Bagri, a city-based businessman and golfer associated with a premium golf club in south Kolkata. Reminding the airline that he was a frequent flier, he urged the airline to be more compassionate towards fliers' purpose of travel as he further added: "To make things worse, I paid Rs 24,606 for extra baggage just to carry my golf set for this tournament. Now I'm stranded at Kolkata Airport, unsure if I'll even make it. I chose this flight specifically so I could rest before my match. "An airport official said the issue was resolved around 8. 15 am, after which boarding commenced. The flight finally departed at 9. 40 am instead of 3. 50 am. Six days ago, only 11 passengers took the Qatar Airways flight to Doha after it was delayed by nearly 10 hours following the airspace closure in Qatar after Iranian missiles attacked a US airbase near the capital. A week prior to that, another Qatar flight was similarly delayed by 5 hours due to geopolitical turbulence in West Asia.