New Delhi:Passengers of a Guwahati-bound IndiGo flight at Delhi airport deboardedmetres away from an active runway to protest against the “delay and mismanagement” on part of the airline on Wednesday.The Delhi-Guwahati flight (6E 694), officials said, was delayed due to a sudden change in weather on Wednesday night, which irked passengers.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had to be later called in to contain the ruckus and force passengers back into the plane. The flight, which was to depart at 6:30pm finally took off at 11:45pm, after a delay of more than five hours.

Officials said that the drama took place around 10.10pm when a number of departures were affected and 15 incoming flights to Delhi had to be diverted due to a sudden change in weather.

According to airport officials, flight 6E 694, with 177 passengers on board, was waiting approval from the Air Traffic Control to take off. The flight was asked to wait since weather conditions were not conducive.

“The passengers had already boarded the aircraft, an Airbus A320. Since there was a delay of a few hour, the pilots commandeering the plane went out of flight duty time. A new crew was therefore arranged who again had to wait for an adequate departure slot from the ATC. This further delayed the flight. The door of the aircraft was open and the ladder was yet to be removed by the airline staff so the crew could exit and the next one could come in. A group of passengers came down the ladder and started staging a protest against the airline on the apron area, just metres away from the three active runways,” said a senior officer from the Central Industrial Security Force.An apron is defined as the area where passengers board an aircraft.