LUCKNOW: Delhi-bound Indigo flight 6E-6497 piloted by former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy along with co-pilot Rajiv Mishra, made a landing at Chaudhury Charan Singh International Airport at Lucknow after experiencing turbulence amidst bad weather in Patna on Wednesday evening.
A momentary panic ensued among the passengers on board. However, Rudy, when failed to land the flight in Patna owing to weather concerns, diverted it to Lucknow and landed safely.
After landing, captain Rudy told the passengers, ‘Now you can clap. You have landed safely.’
As per the sources, IndiGo flight 6E6497 departed from Delhi for Patna on Wednesday evening. During the flight, the weather suddenly deteriorated, and the flight started experiencing turbulence. The severe turbulence created an atmosphere of fear among the passengers. Many passengers panicked, and there was a tense situation in the cabin for some time.
Captain Rajiv Pratap Rudy tried to land the flight in Patna several times, but was unable to do so. Rudy informed the passengers about the bad weather. He said that the flight was being diverted towards Varanasi. However, clearance was not received from there either. Due to this, the flight was diverted to Lucknow.
The aircraft, carrying 181 passengers, finally made the landing in Lucknow airport at 10:49 pm.
As per the video clips of the aircraft, Rudy while addressing the passengers through flight's public address system, urged them to remain calm claiming that they were absolutely in safe hands.
He told the passengers that diversion of flights was routine operational move made in the interest of their safety and that such situations used to arise often due to adverse conditions.
He assured the passengers that as the weather conditions would stabilize, the aircraft would refuel and continue its journey to Patna.
However, after landing in Lucknow, three panic-stricken passengers deboarded the flight. The flight finally departed for Patna past midnight at 12:30 am.
