Passengers travelling from Bengaluru to Paris stranded in Turkmenistan due to aircraft glitch

What was supposed to be a 10-hour direct flight from Bengaluru to Paris onboard an Air France flight has turned out to be a nearly two-day ordeal for passengers, as they have been stranded midway in Turkmenistan.

An Air France flight from Bengaluru to Paris which departed from the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on January 12 has been diverted to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan leaving hundreds of passengers stranded there.

Ordeal from start

The ordeal for the passengers of the flight started at Bengaluru itself as the flight take off was delayed for several hours here.

Air France AF 191 which was scheduled to depart from Bengaluru at 2 a.m. on January 12 was initially delayed for more than 21 hours at the airport due to a technical glitch.

KIA sources said that the flight’s departure was delayed for technical reasons and it took off from Bengaluru at around 10.50 p.m. on January 12.

En route to Paris the flight is said to have encountered an engine problem following which it was diverted to the Ashgabat International Airport. The passengers onboard the flight have been stranded there since then.

Relatives of passengers took to X (formerly Twitter) to post about the flight’s diversion.

“@airfrance @DGCAIndia My brother’s flight AF191 was supposed to depart at 2am on 12th Jan, got rescheduled to 10pm due to technical issues and now got diverted / stranded at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. It is expected to depart at 1pm on 14th Jan. No visa,” Aniket @joshianiket4u posted on X.

“The AirFrance helpline is 45min waiting and not providing proper answers. If the Aircraft is having issue, they shall urgently arrange alternatives and ensure passenger safety and way we can connect with our family. They were sitting 4-5 hours in Aircraft, not sure about current,” stated another post from the same account.

Embassy reaches out

Meanwhile officials from the Embassy of India, Ashgabat, have met the stranded Indian passengers and offered them assistance

“Consular Officials of @IndiainTurkmen1 met the Indian passengers of Air France Flight AF 191 which made an emergency landing at Ashgabat Airport earlier today and assured them of Embassy’s full support for their smooth onward journey to Paris,” the Official X Account of the Embassy of India said in a post.