The civil aviation link between the remote Lakshadweep islands and the Indian mainland continued to remain suspended with Indian Airlines, which operates a daily Dornier service from here to Kochi, grounding the flight a week ago following engine trouble.
Seven stranded passengers were brought to Kochi this morning by sea whereas 8 others refused to travel by ship, IA sources in Kochi said.
One of the stranded passengers from Mumbai, Jaishree Seethapathy, said she was travelling with her aged mother, who could not board a ship.
Though the administration had an ambulance helicopter, they refused to airlift the women citing administrative problems. Those stranded included tourists from Agartala and Bhubaneswar, sources said.
A six-member IA team from Delhi had flown into the islands to rectify the fault but they failed, IA sources said, adding that another Dornier was being arranged to lift the passengers.
The flight had been grounded after it developed a snag soon after take off from the airport in Agatti on September 13.
The Dornier service is the only air link between the mainland and the remote islands. The flights were being operated every day, except on Sundays.
The air link between the islands and the mainland was disrupted for nearly a week in June this year as AI could not operate the service after the pilot resigned. But the service was resumed after the pilot, captain Ashok Choudhary, agreed to continue for some more days.
