BENGALURU: After traversing a distance of 15,553 kms, the first non-stop flight from Benglauru to the United States, one of the longest flight journeys by an Indian airline, reached San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday, well before its scheduled time. The 15-hour and 14 minute journey did not go via the North Pole route as was done when the Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft arrived at Bengaluru on Monday but flew over the Pacific Ocean.
AI 175, which took off from the Kempegowda International Airport at 3.09 pm, suffered a 39-minute delay, due to secondary security checks at boarding gate which were in line with the stringent rules laid down by the US Transport Security Administration for entry into its country.
There were 220 passengers, including an infant, on board the flight which reached at 4.55 pm (6.25 am Indian time) on Tuesday. It was expected to take 16.5 hours, according to a senior Air India official.
Adding to the joy of being a part of the first seamless flight to the US from KIA was the gesture of Flight Commander C V Madhu, a Bengaluru-born pilot, who was part of the 4-member all-male crew. He had announced that he would make use of the Kannada language when communicating with flyers on the Public Announcement System and kept up his word, surprising and wowing flyers.
Speaking to The New Indian Express from San Francisco, Madhu said, "It was an absolutely smooth flight. We flew over the Pacific Ocean aided by favourable winds and reached well before time. And of course, I made the traditional announcement by the Captain, first in Kannada and then later in Hindi and English. The announcement in the vernacular language took many by pleasant surprise, he said.
A few passengers who had alighted after the flight waited below for the Captain to emerge from the cockpit in order to appreciate his gesture and thank him, the pilot added.
Sharing details, the Commander said, "I welcomed the passengers on board and told them that the flight was a historic one, spoke of the weather outside and ended with Jai Hind and then Jai Karnataka. I repeated the same lines in Hindi and English with Jai Hind," Captain Madhu said.
The flight cruised at 900 kms to 1000 kms per hour and went via Bangladesh, Myanmar China, Japan, Pacific Ocean, West Coast of America before reaching its destination, the Captain said. Captain Dilip Desmond, Captain Karana Agarwal and co-pilot Simranjit Singh.
A few pilots have in the past made announcements in the local language but it is rare and not the norm.