53 passengers go without food, water in Paris airport; allege racial discrimination

A hiccup on the runway, a delayed take-off and then a return to Paris, only to spend the night inside an immigration hall at the Charles de Gaulle airport. This is what 53 Indian passengers say they experienced on their way to Mumbai on an Air France flight. According to the passengers, the Airbus AF 218 took off from Paris on Sunday afternoon — the original departure was 10.15 am— due to a glitch. Again, in mid-flight, at about 8.30 pm, the pilot took the plane back to Paris, because of some vibrations in the Cargo hold area.

“First they aborted take-off after gaining speed on the runway. They said there was a problem with a switch,” said Naren Kachru (30), an IBM engineer who was on board AF 218. “We returned to Paris four hours after take-off,” said Vinita Sen Gupta who was on her way back from Boston with her family.

The passengers say the real ordeal started after the aircraft with 168 passengers and 12 cabin crew, landed in Paris. According to Sen Gupta, all passengers were taken to the airport’s E terminal and those with European, American or Canadian passports put on a bus and taken to nearby hotels but those without transit visas were made to wait inside the terminal by Air France staff who said they were trying to arrange transit visas through the local police. Half past midnight, they were told the police had refused the transit visas.

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