SpiceJet flight nearly takes off without 40 passengers, then returns to pick them up

A flight operated by budget airline SpiceJet from Kochi to Mumbai nearly took off without 40 passengers, who were still travelling in a coach from the boarding gate to the aircraft. After the pilots realised what had happened, the plane returned to pick up the stranded passengers.

As a result of the ensuing confusion, the flight was delayed by over 75 minutes. The passengers were travelling on the last bus ferrying between the Kochi airport terminal and the aircraft, when they reportedly saw the plane taxiing towards the runway. 

The bus halted at another SpiceJet aircraft, which was headed to Chennai. When the ground staff realised their mistake, they alerted the crew of the Mumbai-bound plane, which taxied back for the remaining passengers.

The confusion has been attributed to heavy rain at the airport, but several flyers found it unbelievable that the crew did not notice a quarter of the seats were empty despite it being a fully booked flight. The airlines has not released any statement on the incident, yet.

Mashable has reached out to SpiceJet for comment.