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. The aircraft later landed safely in Srinagar and has been grounded, officials said.
Videos of the moments of turbulence shared on social media showed panic-stricken passengers could be heard making religious supplications as the plane swayed.
Some passengers claimed that the nose of the plane was damaged but there was no official word on it.“IndiGo flight 6E2142 enroute Delhi to Srinagar experienced bad weather (hail storm), emergency reported by Pilot to ATC SXR (Srinagar),” an official of the Airport Authority of India said here.He said the flight landed safely at Srinagar at 6.30 pm.
“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 said.“It was a near-death experience. I thought my life was over. People were screaming, praying and panicking. Hats off to the pilot who brought us through that. When we landed we saw the nose of the plane had blown up,” Ghose said.
“I was in the plane and heading back home from Srinagar…It was a near-death experience… the nose of the plane is damaged,” Owais Maqbool Hakeem (@owaismaqbool) posted on X.
“The Nose and Right side of the plane was damaged… And we were not allowed to see much as airforce police was there,” Hakeem claimed in another post.
