BHUBANESHWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s flight enroute from New Delhi was diverted to Kolkata due to bad weather on Friday morning.
Majhi was on board AI-473 and was scheduled to land at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here at about 9.40 am. However, the pilot aborted the landing due to poor visibility on the approach due to the heavy rains.
According to BPIA officials, the pilots kept circling in a holding pattern to see if weather conditions would improve.
As the heavy downpour continued, the flight was diverted to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata at about 10.11 am.
"The Air India flight could not land due to poor visibility triggered by heavy rains in the morning. After circling in a holding pattern for a few minutes, the pilots decided to divert the flight to Kolkata as per the safety procedures," said BPIA Director, Prasanna Pradhan.