The IndiGo flight crew initially sought permission to divert to Pakistan’s airspace but were denied. They subsequently navigated toward Srinagar while managing significant technical alerts and manual flying due to challenging conditions with the help of the IAF.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has shared details of how the IndiGo flight from the national capital to Srinagar on Wednesday was made to land safely after it was denied permission to enter Pakistan airspace with the assistance of the Indian Air Force (IAF). In a detailed statement about the incident, which occurred on May 21, the DGCA said that IndiGo’s A321 neo aircraft operating flight 6E 2142 encountered a hailstorm and severe turbulence near Pathankot after taking off from Delhi.
The IndiGo aircraft was immediately assisted in co-ordinating their route diversion by contacting Delhi Area and passing requisite contact frequencies of Lahore control for overflight weather diversion request. “As per crew statement, they requested Northern control (IAF) for deviation towards left (International Border) due to weather on the route, however, it was not approved,” the DGCA said.
“It later the crew contacted Lahore to enter into their airspace to avoid the weather but the same was refused too,” DGCA added.
When Lahore refused overflight clearance, and the aircraft proceeded towards Srinagar, Indian Air Force sources told PTI that the Northern Area Control stepped in and advised the IndiGo crew within the frame of the NOTAM, ensuring the safety of the aircraft and passengers. The flight was subsequently professionally assisted till a safe-landing at Srinagar airfield by giving control vectors and groundspeed readouts, the sources said.
IndiGo Flight Had Initially Attempted To Return To Delhi
While in a thunderstorm cloud, warnings of Angle of Attack fault, Alternate Law protection lost, backup Speed scale unreliable were triggered. “Due to updraft and downdraft 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,” the statement said.
