As Plane to Srinagar Faced Storm Mid-Air, Request to Detour into Pak Airspace Turned Down

Srinagar: A civilian aircraft facing an imminent storm en route to Jammu and Kashmir's capital Srinagar was left to fend for itself on Wednesday (21 May) after the relevant Indian and Pakistani authorities rejected the crew's request for a detour.

According to a statement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday (23 May),

"While cruising at FL360, aircraft entered hailstorm and severe turbulence near Pathankot. As per crew statement, they requested Northern control (IAF) for deviation towards left (International Border) due to weather on the route, however it was not approved. Later crew contacted Lahore to enter into [Pakistani] airspace to avoid the weather but the same was refused too.

Amid simmering Indo-Pak tensions, the incident highlights the risks faced by air passengers as the Indigo aircraft 6E-2142 was forced to cruise into an area of massive hailstorm at more than 36,000 ft over Punjab that tore apart a significant portion of its radome.

220 passengers including MPs were travelling when incident took place

At least 220 passengers, including some members of the parliament, and crew were travelling in the aircraft when the incident happened.

In a statement issued subsequently, the Indian Air Force sought to clarify what the DGCA had said about its refusal to allow the plane to move closer to the border with Pakistan:

A 43-second disturbing video shows some of the harrowed passengers reciting kalima (declaration of Islamic faith) as the aircraft, flying from Delhi to Srinagar, was hit by high turbulence and hailstorm.

Some female passengers and children could be heard crying as the aircraft swivelled due to the heavy impact of the storm.

Among the passengers were five All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MPs – Nadimul Haque, Derek O'Brien, Sagarika Ghose, Manas Bhunia, and Mamata Thakur – who were flying to meet the victims of the recent cross-border shelling near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir following ‘Operation Sindoor’.

Sheikh Samiullah, a J&K resident who filmed the video with his smartphone, said that the aircraft was some 20 to 30 minutes away from its destination when the ‘seat belt’ sign turned on followed by an announcement by the pilot to brace up for turbulence.

“Within two to three minutes, the aircraft started shaking very violently. I am a frequent flier but I have never seen so much turbulence. I thought it was my last flight,” Samiullah, a courier business entrepreneur, said.

The DGCA statement said that the aircraft initially attempted to return to New Delhi but the decision was aborted due to its close proximity to the area of bad weather.

As the passengers cruised into the cumulonimbus clouds, the aviation regulator said that several multiple warnings turned on which forced the pilots to take manual control of the aircraft as it was rapidly losing altitude at 8500 feet per minute.

“While in thunderstorm cloud, warnings of angle of attack fault, alternate law protection lost, backup speed scale unreliable were triggered. Due to updraft and down draft encountered by the aircraft the autopilot tripped and aircraft speed had wide variations.

As a result, maximum operating speed/maximum operating Mach (VMO/MMO) warnings and repeated stall warnings were triggered,” the statement said.

'Near death experience": Trinamool Congress MP

The DGCA said that the aircraft continued on the manual mode till it exited the hailstorm following which it made a “safe landing” at the Srinagar airport.

“There was no injury to any of the passenger(s) on-board the flight. Post flight walk around revealed damage to the nose radome. The matter is under investigation by the DGCA,” it added.

Samiullah said that it was a traumatic experience for the passengers, “I hope no one gets to witness it,” he said.

All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MP Ghose said that 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,” she said, according to a Press Trust of India report.

The refusal of a safe route for a civilian passenger aircraft comes after India and Pakistan agreed to cease the four-day hostilities starting May 7 which left several civilians dead on the two sides of the International Border between India and Pakistan and the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

The incident also highlights the potential risks for civilian aircrafts amid a fragile peace which the United States president Donald Trump claimed to have brokered between the warring South Asian nuclear powers.

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