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Mumbai: On Friday, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde experienced a significant delay in his travel plans from Jalgaon to Mumbai. The disruption stemmed from an incident at Jalgaon airport involving the pilot of Shinde’s private aircraft. The pilot, citing the end of his duty hours, refused to take off, leading to a delay of approximately one hour.

Shinde had been in Muktainagar, Jalgaon district, attending the Palkhi Yatra, a significant religious procession honouring Sant Muktai. After addressing a gathering, he proceeded to Jalgaon airport to catch his late-night flight, scheduled for departure between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm. However, a breakdown in communication between Shindes’ team and the flight or airport authorities resulted in the unforeseen predicament.

The pilot’s adherence to his duty hours initiated a crisis situation. Senior ministers, Gulabrao Patil and Girish Mahajan, who were accompanying Shinde, actively intervened to resolve the matter. Their negotiations with the pilot extended for roughly thirty minutes. To expedite the process, they contacted higher authorities within the airline to secure permission for the pilot to extend his flight duties.

The pilot had a health problem and an issue with the timing. Along with this, there were some technical difficulties. We had a conversation with the airline company. They explained the situation to the pilot in their own way. It was a minor issue,” Mahajan told the media.

After obtaining the necessary approvals, the flight finally departed. While the initial schedule indicated a short flight lasting under an hour, the combined delays from the earlier technical issues and the pilot’s refusal pushed the final departure time back by twenty to thirty minutes.