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September 30, 2010

Lack of seats forces passengers to stand on Tatarstan Airlines flight

     Melbourne: Six passengers on-board a Tatarstan Airlines flight were allegedly forced to stand because there were not enough seats in the plane. The six are said to have stood for the entire five-hour flight from Turkey to Russia , except for when the plane hit turbulence, forcing the passengers to sit in the aisle without seatbelts, oxygen masks or life vests. The passengers were subjected to 'standing room only' after the flight from Antalya to Ekaterinburg was replaced by another aircraft with fewer seats just before take-off. "The adults had no choice but to fly standing for five hours. When the plane flew through turbulence, they went from standing to sitting in the aisle where naturally they had no safety belts," News.com.au quoted one passenger as telling the Daily Mail. Passengers said they were told by airline crew to put children on their lap - but the children were too big. The incident is believed to have occurred on September 24 and was revealed by angry passengers who have demanded 4,900 dollars each in compensation. But they were only offered 212 dollars by Anex-Tour, which booked many passengers on the flight. An Anex-Tour spokesperson defended the airline, saying the passengers could have waited for a later flight. "People had a choice to fly on that plane standing up, or wait seven hours for another plane. All the tourists decided to fly back despite uncomfortable conditions," Evgenia Fedorova said. Tatarstan Airlines did not deny the incident occurred and a spokesperson said the company will not share any details until everything is clarified. "Our own investigation of this accident is about to begin," they said. Aviation regulators are said to be probing the incident.
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