Around 274 passengers bound for Singapore and Kuala Lumpur on a Malaysian Airlines flight had to wait at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday night as the flight was delayed by over 24 hours.

The flight, scheduled to take off at 11 pm on Saturday, could not take off initially due to a problem with the windscreen. After a delay of three-and-a-half hours, however, when the aircraft did take off, it had to return under emergency conditions due to a technical snag. The passengers had to wait at the airport till morning, after which they were shifted to nearby hotels.

The flight had not taken off till the filing of this report.

The pilot of the Delhi-Singapore-Kuala Lumpur MH 0191 flight noticed a problem with the windscreen after all passengers had boarded the aircraft on Saturday. The Air Traffic Control was then informed, airport sources said.

The passengers had to sit inside the aircraft for over three hours with the crew maintaining that the plane was to take off soon. The flight finally took off at 2.30 am.

“The plane took off at 2.30 am, but returned after 10 minutes under emergency conditions, as the pilot reported a technical snag,” the source said.

The entire emergency mechanism swung into action as the plane landed safely. A fleet of emergency vehicles and fire-tenders immediately rushed to the aircraft and helped the passengers disembark.

“The plane landed at 3.15 am and by 3.45 am we were shifted to the terminal. No airline staff was present to explain what had happened. Few minutes later, an airline staff said the flight was cancelled as there was a problem with the engine fan,” said a passenger.

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