Latest news with #Srinagar-bound
Time of India
4 days ago
- Climate
- Time of India
IndiGo flight aborts Delhi landing as dust storm whips up 80 kmph winds; earlier flight hit by hailstorm, denied Pakistan route
An IndiGo flight from Raipur to Delhi experienced strong turbulence on Sunday evening due to a sudden dust storm over the capital. Flight 6E 6313, which was approaching the Delhi airport, had to abort its landing after the wind speed crossed 80 kmph. The pilot regained altitude and circled in the air before eventually landing safely once conditions improved. Passengers were informed mid-flight about the strong winds and the decision to delay the landing. High winds disrupt flight operations across Delhi-NCR On Sunday, several parts of Delhi-NCR recorded gusty winds and brief rainfall. The wind speeds reached 66 kmph over Safdarjung during a short thundersquall, while Pragati Maidan reported the day's peak at 76 kmph around 4:45 pm. Palam and Jharoda Kalan also experienced strong winds of 65 kmph and 37 kmph respectively. Between 5:00 pm and 5:30 pm, four flights were diverted from Delhi — two from Jaipur, and one each from Chandigarh and Amritsar — due to unsafe flying conditions. #WATCH | An IndiGo flight number 6E 6313 from Raipur to Delhi experienced turbulence due to a duststorm, prompting the pilot to climb up again when the aircraft was about to touch down at Delhi airport. The aircraft landed safely at Delhi airport after making many circuits in the… Delhi Airport issued a statement on social media, saying, 'Due to inclement weather conditions in Delhi, flight operations at Delhi Airport are impacted.' It added that ground teams were coordinating with stakeholders and advised passengers to contact their airlines for updated information. Srinagar-bound flight previously caught in hailstorm, denied access to Pakistani airspace The Delhi turbulence incident came just days after another IndiGo flight encountered severe weather. A Srinagar-bound flight from Delhi faced a strong hailstorm near Pathankot shortly after takeoff. To avoid further turbulence, the crew requested entry into Pakistani airspace. However, the request was denied by both the Indian Air Force's Northern Control and Pakistan's Lahore Air Traffic Control. The refusal came amid strained diplomatic relations, which currently restrict Indian flights from entering Pakistani airspace. During the flight, the aircraft briefly descended sharply — at one point dropping at 8,500 feet per minute — before stabilising and landing safely in Srinagar. The aircraft's nose radome sustained damage due to the storm.
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Indian Express
Gaurav Taneja, aka Flying Beast, analyses Delhi-Srinagar IndiGo incident; claims Pakistan would've allowed entry had pilots declared MAYDAY
YouTuber Gaurav Taneja, best known as Flying Beast online, analysed the recent incident where a Srinagar-bound IndiGo flight had to navigate extreme weather conditions. The flight was denied entry into Pakistani airspace due to the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, and was left with no option but to penetrate the weather. He said in his latest YouTube video that the pilots displayed incredible poise while navigating the extreme weather conditions, but that they shouldn't have been in the position in the first place. 'Pilots are told that if there is bad weather ahead, at no cost can they penetrate that weather,' he said, adding, 'On day one, pilots are told, 'Bhai, laal rang radar pe dikhe, usme kabhi mat jaana'.' He said that the meteorological department should've warned Delhi in advance, and that the aircraft shouldn't have been dispatched in the first place. Gaurav, who worked as a commercial pilot for a decade before turning to YouTube full-time, has analysed past aircraft incidents like this as well. In his video, he explained what options the pilots had, why they weren't able to turn back around and return to Delhi, and why airlines need to take another look at their policies. Gaurav presented the flight-path on the screen, and with diagrams and notations, explained what the aircraft went through. 'It doesn't make sense to take a right turn, because you'd hit the Himalayas. It would be like out of the frying pan and into the fire. They could've also turned back around, or they could've decided to continue. The pilot decided to continue. I'll explain why they couldn't turn back, because it's important for airlines to rethink their policies about this,' he said. Explaining how a flight's radar system works, he continued, 'Weather patterns are colour-coded, if there is red on the radar, it means bad weather. Bad weather can shake a plane up, it can even turn a plane upside down. It can be extremely turbulent, and should be avoided at all costs. Amber zones on the radar should also be avoided. Green can be penetrated, but only if no other options are available. Even this isn't recommended. What's recommended is that pilots should maintain 20 nautical miles distance between the plane and weather. Even Airbus recommends this.' He said that the pilots could have theoretically passed the bad weather from above, but this isn't practical. Pilots can't gain altitude and navigate the weather from above, because in all likelihood, the cloud is 6000 ft high. 'It isn't recommended to climb 6000 ft, because this consumes a lot of fuel and takes a lot of time. It can also disrupt traffic and make things difficult for the ATC. The standard recommendation is to either take a left or right,' he said. Gaurav said that there is a catch; a plane's radar system collects data via the size of water droplets outside. Older radar systems don't have the capability of registering 'ice particles, snow, sandstorms, and dry hail'. And this is likely what happened with the Delhi-Srinagar flight. He said that it is a common misconception that flying during monsoon season is dangerous; the most dangerous time to fly, he said, is during the pre-monsoon, because this is when the weather is building. He continued, 'In my experience, an aircraft returns to base only in the event of a technical fault, either in the landing gear, or the hydraulics, or the electricals. You might think that this would've been the easiest thing to do, but let me tell you what goes on. Flights are usually equipped to deal with diversions, meaning that they have extra fuel and such. But the pilots probably didn't decide to turn back because they had no prior experience with a situation like this.' He then offered his theory about why Pakistan didn't allow the aircraft into its airspace. He said that regardless of wars or conflicts, if lives are at stake and a pilot declares emergency, the flight would have been allowed to enter. But the pilots didn't call out MAYDAY; they called out the lesser distress signal PAN PAN. 'From the information we have till now, the pilots didn't declare an emergency; had they done so, Pakistan would've had to allow them into their airspace. Nobody has declared an emergency due to weather. The airspace around Pathankot is controlled by the Air Force; it's called Northern Control. The pilots told Northern Control that they'd hit weather. They were told to contact Delhi, who would contact Lahore. Because Lahore is civil airport, Northern Command couldn't contact them. The aircraft must've gotten in touch with Lahore in a couple of minutes, Lahore must've gone up the chain to ask for permission to allow the aircraft into Pakistani airspace. The permission was denied,' he said. What happened during this back-and-forth was that the pilot lost around 10-15 minutes. 'The aircraft was at the threshold of the bad weather, and there was no turning back,' he concluded. In 1999, the pilots of the hijacked IC 814 were also denied entry into Pakistani airspace, but was eventually given permission when Lahore thought that the flight could crash in a crowded area. A Netflix series dramatising the hijacking was released last year. Pilot Devi Sharan told CNN, 'I reached Lahore, everything was closed. Airport runway was closed. I didn't have any choice. I didn't have any fuel to go back to Amritsar. I had only one choice: to crash the plane.' Despite his intention to crash, Sharan decided to delay the landing after noticing people on the ground. The situation took a dramatic turn when Pakistani airport authorities, realizing the imminent danger, gave the flight clearance to land just in time. 'In the meantime, (Pakistani airport officials) came to know we have to crash this airplane. Then they gave me runway (clearance) … I had about one and half minutes of fuel left so luckily I landed on the runway,' he said.
Deccan Herald
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Deccan Herald
Indian pilots to have norms for flying in turbulent weather: Report
This comes after a Srinagar-bound IndiGo flight from Delhi with more than 200 people on board experienced turbulence due to inclement weather.
Mint
23-05-2025
- Climate
- Mint
IndiGo flight with 'nose damage' from Delhi storm was denied entry into Pakistan airspace, DGCA clarifies
Pakistan turned down a request from a Srinagar-bound IndiGo flight, which was battered by severe turbulence on Wednesday evening, to enter its airspace, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has confirmed. The regulator has initiated a detailed investigation into the incident. The Airbus A321 Neo aircraft – carrying more than 220 people, including Trinamool Congress MPs – was cruising at 36,000 feet when it encountered extreme weather conditions. According to the DGCA, the crew had requested a deviation from their flight path due to an approaching storm, but this was denied by Northern Control, operated by the Indian Air Force. A subsequent attempt to enter Pakistani airspace by contacting Lahore ATC was also refused. Faced with rapidly deteriorating weather conditions and limited alternatives, the crew initially considered turning back but ultimately decided to fly through the storm to minimise exposure time. 'The aircraft experienced updraughts and downdraughts that caused the autopilot to disengage, leading to significant speed fluctuations,' the DGCA stated. 'Warnings for exceeding the maximum operating speed and repeated stall alerts were also triggered. At one point, the aircraft's rate of descent peaked at 8,500 feet per minute.' The pilots were forced to take manual control until the aircraft exited the turbulent zone. A PAN PAN emergency call was made to Srinagar ATC, after which the aircraft received radar vectors and landed safely. The auto-thrust system resumed normal operation prior to touchdown. Following the safe landing, a post-flight inspection revealed damage to the aircraft's nose radome, likely caused by hail impact.
Economic Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
IndiGo pilot contacted Lahore after IAF denied permission to cross international border; DGCA says matter under probe
IndiGo's Delhi-Srinagar flight faced severe turbulence and a hailstorm, prompting a DGCA investigation. The crew's requests to deviate into Pakistani or use the Northern control (IAF) airspace were denied due to weather conditions. The aircraft experienced multiple warnings and autopilot disengagement, with the crew manually flying through the storm, ultimately landing safely in Srinagar with damage to the nose radome. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday said that the recent incident where IndiGo's Delhi-Srinagar flight encountering turbulence due to a sudden hailstorm is under probe.A Srinagar-bound IndiGo flight from Delhi with more than 220 people, including TMC MPs , on board encountered sudden hailstorm on Wednesday, prompting the pilot to report the "emergency" to air traffic control at Srinagar."All aircrew and 227 passengers are safe and the flight is declared AOG by the airline," he said.'Aircraft on ground' (AOG) refers to a plane that is grounded and unable to fly due to technical issues.A Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation, which included Derek O'Brien, Sagarika Ghose, Nadimul Haque, Mamata Thakur and Manas Bhuyan, was on board the plane, Ghose the aviation body said that the crew had requested Northern control (IAF) for deviation towards left (International Border) due to weather on the route, however it was not approved. Furthermore, later, the crew contacted Lahore to enter into their airspace to avoid the weather but the same was refused too."Crew initially attempted to return but as they were close to the thunderstorm cloud, they decided to penetrate the weather. Subsequently, they encountered hailstorm and severe turbulence. Crew chose to continue at same heading to exit the weather by the shortest route towards Srinagar. While in thunderstorm cloud, warnings of Angle of Attack fault, Alternate Law protection lost, backup Speed scale unreliable were triggered," said DGCA's statement."Due to updraft and down draft encountered by the aircraft the Autopilot tripped and aircraft speed had wide variations. As a result, Maximum Operating Speed/Maximum operating Mach (VMO/MMO) warnings and repeated stall warnings were triggered. During this period the aircraft rate of descent reached 8500 fpm crew flew the aircraft manually till they exit the hailstorm," added the body in its DGCA said that there was no injury to any of the passenger on-board the flight. "Post flight walk around revealed damage to the Nose radome. The matter is under investigation by the DGCA," said DGCA.
