In a statement, Indigo said the flight and cabin crew followed established protocol and the aircraft landed safely in Srinagar.
A Srinagar-bound Indigo flight from Delhi with more than 220 people on board encountered sudden hailstorm leading to severe turbulence on Wednesday, prompting the pilot to report the “emergency” to air traffic control at Srinagar.
The flight later landed safely at 6:30pm, officials said.
“IndiGo flight 6E 2142 operating from Delhi to Srinagar encountered sudden hailstorm en route. The flight and cabin crew followed established protocol and the aircraft landed safely in Srinagar,” the airline said in a statement later.
“The airport team attended to the customers after arrival of the aircraft, prioritizing their wellbeing and comfort. The aircraft will be released post necessary inspection and maintenance,” it said.
The statement did not detail the extent of damage to the plane due to the hailstorm. Visuals of the plane on social media indicate damage to the aircraft’s nose..
An official at Srinagar airport said the aircrew and passengers are safe and the plane was declared ‘aircraft on ground’ by the airline.
Aircraft on ground’ (AOG) refers to a plane that is grounded and unable to fly due to technical issues.
“I was in the plane and am heading back home from Srinagar. It was a near death experience.The nose of the plane is damaged…There was panic and people were screaming. Everyone was scared,” one Owais Maqbool Hakeem, who was on board the flight, said in a post on micro-blogging platform X.
“The Nose and Right side of the plane was damaged… And we were not allowed to see much as airforce police was there,” Hakeem said in another post.
Sheikh Samiullah, another passenger, told PTI that he thought the plane was going to crash.
“I was onboard the IndiGo flight when everything seemed normal, until the pilot suddenly announced a rough patch ahead and asked us to fasten our seatbelts. I’m a frequent flyer, but I’ve never experienced turbulence like this. It was terrifying. I’m truly grateful to the pilot for landing us safely,” he said.
Another X user, am_aaqib, praised the pilots and the cabin crew for their handling of the plane and the situation in the plane.
We had a narrow escape from Delhi to Srinagar flight indigo. Special thanks to the captain and cabin crew.
