New Delhi: It has now come to light that Pakistan denied IndiGo flight 6E2142 to enter its airspace briefly on Wednesday evening to avoid a hailstorm. The flight from Delhi to Srinagar, with over 220 passengers on board, had a narrow escape after encountering a severe hailstorm moments before landing.
Passengers experienced severe turbulence as the aircraft lurched and rocked. The plane also suffered heavy damage after being battered by hail. It took all the the skills of the pilots to bring down the aircraft in one piece in Srinagar around 6.30 pm after which ground staff took care of the passengers.
“The pilot of the aircraft initially requested permission from Lahore Air Traffic Control to briefly enter Pakistani airspace to avoid turbulence. This permission was denied; however, the request was denied,” an official said.
After being denied permission by the Lahore ATC, the commander declared an emergency to Srinagar. The aircraft was overflying Amritsar when it encountered turbulence and requested permission from Lahore. After being denied permission, the aircraft maintained its original flight path and encountered severe turbulence, the sources added.
Both India and Pakistan closed their airspaces to civilian flights of the other country after the Pahalgam terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 that left 26 persons, mostly tourists from across the country, dead and several others injured.
A five-member delegation from the Trinamool Congress, including Derek O’Brien, Nadimul Haque, Sagarika Ghose, Manas Bhunia, and Mamata Thakur, was on board the flight.
“It was a near-death experience. I thought my life was over. People were screaming, praying, and panicking,” Ghose said on Wednesday.
“Hats off to the pilot who brought us through that. When we landed, we saw the nose of the plane had blown up,” she said, adding that the delegation thanked the pilot after landing.
Videos capturing the moments of turbulence surfaced on social media, showing panicked passengers praying as the plane rocked violently.
