We landed with 1-2 minutes fuel left: Indigo passenger details 'ordeal' on Delhi-bound flight
An Indigo flight passenger narrated his 'ordeal' on a Delhi-bound flight which wasted precious time mid-air deciding the next course of action, after the aircraft could not land in the capital due to bad weather
A senior police officer in Delhi took to X (formerly Twitter) platform to narrate a “harrowing experience" he had on an IndiGo flight from Ayodhya to Delhi on Saturday (April 13).
According to Satish Kumar, DCP Crime, the flight which could not land in Delhi due to bad weather “wasted a lot of time” mid-air trying to decide the next course of action. Finally, the aircraft was diverted to Chandigarh just in the nick of time with only one or two minutes of fuel left.
"What an ordeal it was for the passengers," said Kumar in his post, describing the horror of seeing a “lot of the passengers and one crew staff puking in panic”.
Narrow escape
The incident has raised safety concerns, with Kumar asking Directoral General of Civil Aviation and the ministry of civil aviation to enquire if IndiGo may have followed all the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or if it was a "narrow escape".
The 'ordeal'
Kumar was flying from Ayodhya to Delhi on Saturday on IndiGo flight 6E2702. The plane which left Ayodhya at 3.25 pm was scheduled to land in the capital at 4.30 pm.
Around 4.15 pm, just fifteen minutes before they were to land, the pilot told the passengers there was bad weather at the Delhi airport. He tried landing the aircraft twice but was unable to do so. The pilot however assured passengers that they had holding fuel to be in the air for 45 minutes, said Kumar in the post.
According to the police officer, 75 minutes later the pilot informed the passengers that he would attempt to land in Chandigarh.
And Kumar said many passengers and one of the crew staff were in a state of panic and started puking.
The pilot then finally landed in Chandigarh at 6.10 pm, 115 minutes after the IndiGo pilot said the plane had holding fuel for just 45 minutes, Kumar said. Further, he added that he got to know that they landed in the “nick of time with only 1 or 2 minutes of fuel left from the crew staff”.
Gross safety violation
Meanwhile, a retired pilot Shakti Lumba reacting to the post called the incident a "gross safety violation" by IndiGo and demanded an investigation by the DGCA.
"After two missed approaches, a diversion is mandatory," Lumba wrote on X. Aso, he added that still holding instead of diverting and then landing allegedly on fumes is a gross safety violation. "The Captain has no business being in command if the report is correct," he pointed out.
Social media users have pointed out that Flightradar data showed only one missed approach and go-around, followed by a cancelled second approach and immediate diversion to Chandigarh. IndiGo too has not issued a statement on the alleged incident.
Bad weather in Delhi
On the evening of April 13, 22 flights were diverted at Delhi airport due to bad weather, an official told news agency PTI.
Nine flights were diverted to Jaipur, eight to Lucknow, two to Chandigarh, and one each to Varanasi, Amritsar and Ahmedabad. The official said nine flights of IndiGo, eight flights of Air India, and three flights of Vistara were among those that were diverted.
The flights were diverted between 3 pm and 6.30 pm, the official added.
