IndiGo Flight Aborts Delhi Landing Due to Sudden Dust Storm

Post by : Bianca Suleiman

Photo: PTI

On Sunday evening, an IndiGo flight from Raipur to Delhi had to stop its landing because of a sudden dust storm and bad weather in Delhi.

Flight 6E 6313 was very close to landing at Indira Gandhi International Airport when strong winds and low visibility made the pilot decide not to land. Instead, the plane flew in circles until the weather got better. The flight finally landed safely at 5:43 pm, about 40 minutes late.

A video taken inside the plane shows passengers scared as the plane shook a lot. The pilot told everyone that the wind was very strong—up to 80 kilometers per hour. Because of this, the plane had to fly higher to stay safe.

At the same time, Delhi and nearby areas were hit by a sudden dust storm. There was rain, thunder, and strong winds. Delhi airport warned passengers that flights might be delayed because of the bad weather.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the storm happened because of a fast-moving cloud cluster and strong winds reaching up to 76 km/h in some places. For example, Palam had winds of 65 km/h around 4:30 pm, and Pragati Maidan had 76 km/h winds.

The IMD explained that the storm was caused by several weather factors. These included a weather disturbance over north Pakistan, a spinning air system over Haryana, and moist winds coming from the Arabian Sea. The IMD also said more thunderstorms and strong winds of 40 to 50 km/h might happen on Monday.

The storm brought relief from the heat. In some parts of Delhi, the temperature dropped by as much as 14°C. For instance, at Safdarjung, the temperature went down from 37°C at 3:30 pm to 23°C by 5:30 pm.

Just a few days before, another IndiGo flight (6E 2142 from Delhi to Srinagar) had an emergency in the air because it flew into a strong hailstorm. The plane had 227 people on board. The pilot told the Srinagar air traffic control about the situation, and the plane landed safely at 6:30 pm. IndiGo said the crew followed all safety rules. The plane's nose was damaged and was checked on the ground, but no one was hurt.