New Delhi: An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar had a narrow escape after encountering a severe hailstorm midway. The nose cone of the aircraft suffered severe damage and visuals from inside revealed major turbulence after the fuselage was battered by hail.
Passengers screamed and shrieked in panic, even as cabin crew tried to calm them down. The flight commander declared an emergency to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Srinagar before the two pilots used all their skills to land the aircraft without any injury to passengers.
It was only after leaving the aircraft and noticing the kind of battering it had undergone that passengers thanked the pilots for their exceptional flying skills.
According to a passenger, everything was normal on board flight 6E2142 for most of the journey. It was only when the aircraft was making a descent towards Srinagar that the hailstorm struck. There was clearly no way to know its intensity till the aircraft began to ‘roll’.
“We could hear the hailstones hitting the aircraft. It lurched and twisted and at times it felt as if the whole thing would just come apart. Fortunately, everybody had their seatbelts on, otherwise there could have been severe injuries or even deaths. There were a number of children and elderly people on board. It was a traumatic experience,” a passenger said.
The visuals showed passengers bracing themselves with their arms against the seats in front to prevent their upper bodies from jerking forward.
“We need to congratulate the pilots for their exceptional skills. I do not know whether someone made a mistake by allowing the aircraft to approach in that kind of weather, but the pilots certainly kept their cool and landed the aircraft as smoothly as possible. The nose of the aircraft was a message,” another pilot said.
The aircraft landed at 6.30 pm after which IndiGo declared it ‘Aircraft On Ground’ or AOG. This means that the plane will now remain grounded for major repairs. An inquiry has been ordered.
