IndiGo flight facing severe weather was denied diversion requests, India says
An IndiGo passenger plane attempting to avoid severe weather en route to Indian Kashmir was denied permission to divert towards Pakistan by both the Indian Air Force and Pakistan, India's aviation regulator said on Friday.
No passengers were injured when the flight from India's capital Delhi to the northern Indian city of Srinagar was forced to fly through a hailstorm. But a post-landing inspection revealed damage to the aircraft's nose, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement, adding that the incident was under investigation.
An image shared by the Times of India newspaper on the social media platform X showed a large hole in the front of the aircraft, while a video also circulating on the site showed passengers screaming and praying during the turbulence. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video.
The incident highlights the risks commercial airlines and passengers face after tensions between India and Pakistan led the two nuclear-armed neighbors to close their airspaces to each other's airlines last month.
The Airbus A321neo, which typically has seating capacity for 180 to 220 passengers, was first denied a request to turn towards the India-Pakistan border by the Indian Air Force, the regulator said, without specifying the reason.
The IAF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The flight crew then contacted the city of Lahore in Pakistan requesting entry into Pakistan's airspace, but that was also denied, the DGCA said.
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority declined to comment.
The crew of flight 6E 2142 then flew through the storm, choosing the shortest route to Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.
'The flight and cabin crew followed established protocol and the aircraft landed safely in Srinagar,' IndiGo said in a statement.
It later said the aircraft was undergoing checks in Srinagar and would resume operations once clearances had been secured.
Tensions flared between India and Pakistan following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir in April, eventually triggering the two neighbors' worst military conflict in nearly three decades.
The two countries declared a truce earlier this month. Their airspaces, however, remain closed to each other's airlines.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Arab News
India's Modi arrives in Kashmir to open strategic railway
SRINAGAR, India: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kashmir on Friday, his first visit to the contested Himalayan region since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan last month, and opened a strategic railway line. Modi is launching a string of projects worth billions of dollars for the divided Muslim-majority territory, the center of bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan fought an intense four-day conflict last month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10. His office broadcast images of Modi at a viewing point for the Chenab Bridge, a 1,315-meter-long (4,314-foot-long) steel and concrete span that connects two mountains with an arch 359 meters above the river below. 'In addition to being an extraordinary feat of architecture, the Chenab Rail Bridge will improve connectivity,' the Hindu nationalist leader said in a social media post ahead of his visit. Modi strode across the bridge waving a giant Indian flag to formally declare it open for rail traffic soon after his arrival. New Delhi calls the Chenab span the 'world's highest railway arch bridge.' While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China. The new 272-kilometer Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway, with 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, has been constructed 'aiming to transform regional mobility and driving socio-economic integration,' Modi's office says. The bridge will facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as troops, that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and by air. The railway 'ensures all weather connectivity' and will 'boost spiritual tourism and create livelihood opportunities,' Modi said. The railway line is expected to halve the travel time between the town of Katra in the Hindu-majority Jammu region and Srinagar, the main city in Muslim-majority Kashmir, to around three hours. More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire during last month's conflict. The fighting was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing – a charge Islamabad denies. Rebel groups in Indian-run Kashmir have waged a 35-year-long insurgency demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
New Trump ban puts thousands of Afghans in US resettlement limbo
KABUL: A new US travel ban, which lists Afghans among nationals of 12 affected countries, has put on hold the lives of thousands of refugees who fled Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American-led troops in 2021. US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning nationals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the country — part of a broader immigration crackdown launched by his administration earlier this year at the start of his second term. The move has placed in a state of indefinite waiting some 25,000 Afghans who have been approved for relocation to the US and are awaiting departure in Pakistan. One of them, Mohammad Iqbal, a 35-year-old former government employee, told Arab News that his refugee resettlement application has been active for the past two years. Having completed two interviews with the UN refugee agency and the necessary medical check-ups, he was waiting for his final visa appointment. He is not allowed to work in Pakistan, and he also cannot go back to Afghanistan — both for safety reasons and since that would halt the refugee process. 'I am running out of money and there is no work for Afghans here in Pakistan. We are also facing an increasing risk of deportation. My passport will expire if I don't make it to the US in a few months. It will be very difficult to go back to Afghanistan. I won't be safe there,' Iqbal said. 'I have done my master's degree abroad and worked in some highly technical positions before 2021 ... The current decision by the US president is very unfair and is against the promises made to us by the US government.' Besides those in Pakistan, thousands more Afghans are in the same situation stranded in Qatar and in the UAE, and another few hundred have been kept waiting at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo — the largest US military base in the Balkans. The US travel ban will be in effect from June 9, according to a presidential proclamation released by the White House, which said that it was needed to protect the US from 'from terrorist attacks and other national security or public-safety threats.' Justifying the decision on Afghanistan, Trump cited its lack of a 'competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents' and screening and vetting capabilities. Another reason was that the Taliban, 'a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group,' controls Afghanistan. The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, when its Western-backed administration collapsed as American-led international forces withdrew after two decades of occupation that started with the US invasion of the country in 2001. The troop withdrawal was followed by an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Afghans — many of whom had worked as translators or local staff for foreign governments, organizations or for the previous administration, and feared potential retribution by the Taliban. 'The US played a direct role in creating this situation. As a result of the 20-year US occupation, Afghan society was divided into hostile groups that turned against each other,' said Nasir Ahmad Nawidy, political science professor at Salam University in Kabul. 'Because of the improper policy of the US — without an agreement and peace being reached — the country collapsed, and the systems and order were destroyed. As a result, many people who were prominent figures or experts in the previous regime, or other people who had held important positions in this country, were forced to leave Afghanistan.' He was still hopeful that the US justice system would challenge Trump's decision. 'The US has a commitment to these people,' he said. 'They have been promised it, and their visas are in process. Ignoring these commitments and halting or delaying ongoing processes is against all humanitarian laws.'
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Pakistani pilgrims pray for Palestinians, Muslim world on sacred Day of Arafat
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani pilgrims on Thursday vowed to pray for Palestinians and the wider Muslim world as they joined over a million fellow worshippers in Arafat on one of the most sacred days in Islam to seek forgiveness. The Day of Arafat, observed on the 9th of Dhu Al-Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar, marks the spiritual peak of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Its central ritual, Wuquf, involves standing in devotion from noon until sunset near Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) delivered his farewell sermon. After sunset, pilgrims travel to Muzdalifah, located between Arafat and Mina, to collect pebbles for the symbolic 'stoning of the devil' ritual performed the following day. 'It is a big day for the Muslims around the world and those who are present here,' Pakistan's Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf said while speaking to media from Mount Arafat. 'I urge Pakistani pilgrims that along with praying for their own families, they should also pray for the country, Muslim Ummah, especially people of Gaza, Palestine and Kashmir,' he added. Malik Aslam, a Pakistani pilgrim from Gujar Khan, a city in Rawalpindi District, said the situation in Gaza was deeply disturbing and that he would pray for Palestinians. 'All pilgrims should pray for all the Muslims, especially those in Palestine,' he told Arab News. 'Pilgrims should pray for the success of Muslims in all fields.' 'I am also praying for my parents and all those who left this world,' he added. Expressing his feelings from Mount Arafat, Muhammad Usman, another pilgrim from Gujrat district in Punjab, said he was thankful to God for blessing him with the opportunity to perform Hajj. 'Today, I am reflecting on my entire life and praying that Allah grant me a better, righteous life ahead,' he told Arab News, saying he would begin a new chapter of life after Hajj. 'I hope to leave here with all my known and unknown sins forgiven,' he added. Muhammad Abdullah, from Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said his day was going well, as the weather was not too hot. 'I will pray for the whole Ummah, following example of our Holy Prophet [PBUH],' he added. Speaking about the arrangements, Samad Wazir, a pilgrim from the northwestern Waziristan tribal district, expressed satisfaction with the facilities provided by both the Pakistani Hajj mission and Saudi authorities, hoping the same standard would continue in the coming days. 'It is very well arranged and there has been no problem at all in the tents and other places,' he said, adding that everyone had their own folding beds and received meals on time in the tents. 'Even on the buses, the arrangements were smooth, as everyone boarded in turn with the help of Hajj volunteers, who also guided us all the way to our tents,' he added. Munir Ahmed Bhatti, a pilgrim from Gujranwala city, also praised the Pakistani mission for the arrangements in Mina and Arafat. 'We gathered for Hajj and this time the government of Pakistan has done very good arrangements and we are satisfied,' he said, adding that pilgrims got good residences, food and transportation. Over 117,000 Pakistani pilgrims are currently in Saudi Arabia for Hajj 2025.
