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Confused pilot flies across India after new airport mixup

A KLM flight headed for Hyderabad in India's south skipped its destination and flew across India because the pilot was unaware the city had a brand-new airport, a report said yesterday.

The confusion occurred barely hours after the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in the Hyderabad suburb of Shamshabad became operational after midnight on Saturday, the Times of India said.

`WHAT'S THAT?'

The pilot of the KLM flight, which had taken off from Amsterdam, at first headed toward Hyderabad's old airport and was informed by air traffic control the facility had been shut, the report said.

When directed to fly to the new airport, the unnamed pilot replied: "What's that?"

The pilot flew instead to New Delhi first and then directed the plane to Mumbai after being declined permission to land, the report said.

DELAYS

The plane had 230 economy and 13 business-class passengers on board when it approached Hyderabad at 1:45am on Sunday.

It had been due to fly out of Hyderabad to return to Amsterdam at 3:35am with more than 230 passengers.

The Times of India cited an anonymous source as saying that the Dutch airline's pilot had been reluctant to land in Shamshabad because its headquarters in the Netherlands had not received a notice about the closure of the old and the opening of the new facility.

The new airport, built at a cost of more than US$600 million, opened for flights after a week's delay prompted by airline requests for more time to switch to the new facility and operational reasons such as shifting of equipment.
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