‘It sounded like a tyre burst. Aircraft braked very hard & things went flying’

New Delhi: Barely 24 hours after a SWISS Delhi-Zurich flight aborted take-off at IGI Airport following an engine fire, a passenger who was on board has described the evacuation as swift and professional inside the aircraft, but alleged confusion, delays and lack of coordination once passengers were on the ground.

Vinod Krishnadas, 41, a Mumbai-based professional now working in Zug, Switzerland, spoke to TOI from Zurich over phone and narrated his ordeal.

Krishnadas said that he was travelling on flight LX147 on Sunday when the Airbus A330 accelerated for take-off before suddenly coming to a sharp halt.

At Indira Gandhi International Airport, authorities declared a ‘full emergency’ following the incident.

“It sounded like a tyre burst. The aircraft braked very hard and things went flying,” Krishnadas recalled, adding that there was no visible smoke initially, which prevented panic from spreading instantly.

He said he did not see smoke from his window and remained seated based on instructions until the cabin crew announced “emergency, evacuate now.”

As panic spread, passengers in economy class faced a more chaotic situation. “There was a lot of clamour,” he said. Several passengers sustained injuries while using the emergency slides, with reports of fractures and sprains.

Officials confirmed that four passengers were hospitalised and a crew member suffered a minor injury.

Despite confusion, Krishnadas praised the airline crew. “The Swiss crew did a great job calming people down and distributing water. Everyone was in shock, but they handled it well.”

But he criticised the response at the airport after evacuation. “There was no ambulance initially, only a fire brigade. We waited for 10-15 minutes for medical help, and nearly 40 minutes on the runway overall,” he said.

He said the situation inside the terminal deteriorated further. “There was no proper headcount, no announcements, no leadership. It felt like a headless chicken— people were running around trying to count passengers,” he alleged.

Krishnadas said that the process became increasingly disorganised. “They brought 40–50 contact information cards for over 200 passengers and distributed them randomly. There weren’t enough cards — and there was only one pen,” he said.

It took hours before officials began calling out passenger names using a roster, he said.

“Even simple process like counting names took 3-4 hours and was confusing. They stopped midway at times,” he said, adding that passengers were later sent to a hotel in Connaught Place.

“There was no representative at the hotel to guide us. Two complete strangers were put in the same room.”

Swiss International Air Lines said in a statement that all passengers were assisted, accommodated and rebooked. Four passengers remain hospitalised, while one crew member suffered a minor ankle injury, it said.