NEW DELHI: Tense moments prevailed on board an Indigo flight from Raipur to Delhi on Sunday evening after it got stuck in a dust storm just as it was about to land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The pilot had to circle above the airport multiple times until the weather settled down before the flight was steered to a safe landing.
Flight no. 6313 had departed from Raipur at 3 pm and was on schedule to land at Delhi around 5 pm when the incident happened.
A video clip shared by a passenger on board the flight was shared online by news agency ANI. Spokespersons from Indigo as well as Delhi airport later confirmed the incident to TNIE.
The 2-minute clip shows the Flight Captain addressing the passengers about the situation.
He said, “There was a dust storm at Delhi airport. We were just about to land and the winds went upto 80 km an hour. I decided to discontinue approach and now am climbing back...”
The clip shows a few passengers screaming and many holding on to the seat in front of them for balance.
The flight, an airbus A321 with a twin engine, was held in a holding pattern (hovering above the airport) for over half an hour until the dust storm cleared. The pilot landed the plane safely by 5.43 pm after the weather conditions became normal.
The specific flight model can seat upto a maximum of 236 passengers. It is not clear how many were on board.
Vikas Kumar Modi, an entrepreneur posted a message lauding the pilot.
“…the pilot made the wise decision to abort the landing and climb back to a safe altitude. His alertness and sound judgment ensured the safety of all passengers on board. This was not just a routine flight – it was a remarkable display of skill, composure and dedication to duty.”
A source at Indigo attributed the incident to weather conditions at the airport.
According to the spokesperson at Delhi airport, 14 flights were diverted between 4.30 pm and 6.10 pm due to poor weather conditions.
“Due to adverse weather in Delhi, 14 incoming flights from different cities in the country were diverted to Chandigarh, Jaipur, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Dehradun and Lucknow.”
There was no diversion of any international flight, he added.