New Delhi: An IndiGo flight from Ayodhya to Delhi made emergency landing in Chandigarh due to fuel shortage on Saturday. The incident has sparked a safety concerns, with passengers and a retired pilot alleging that IndiGo may have violated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
One of the passenger on board, named Satish Kumar took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle and shared his harrowing experience. In the post he said that the flight (6E2702) was scheduled to depart Ayodhya at 3:25 PM and arrive in Delhi at 4:30 PM. However, about 15 minutes before landing, the pilot announced that bad weather in Delhi would prevent them from landing there.
In the post he further mentioned that after two failed landing attempts, the pilot finally announced at 5:30 PM, 75 minutes after the holding fuel announcement that they would divert to Chandigarh.
Following the announcement, a lot of passengers and one of the crew staff started puking out of panic.
“The plane finally managed to land at Chandigarh Airport at 6:10 PM, 115 minutes after the announcement about having 45 minutes of holding fuel. Got to know after landing that we landed in the nick of time, with only 1 or 2 minutes of fuel left, from the crew staff,” he mentioned in the tweet.
A retired pilot Shakti Lumba called the incident a “gross safety violation” by IndiGo and demanded an investigation by the DGCA.
Meanwhile, the airlines is yet to issue a statement on the alleged incident.
Had a harrowing experience yesterday with @IndiGo6E Flight No. 6E2702 from Ayodhya to Delhi. Scheduled departure time 3:25 p.m. and schedule arrival time 4:30 p.m.
Around 4:15 p.m. the pilot announced that there’s bad weather at @DelhiAirport. and assured that the plane has 45…— Satish Kumar (@CopSatish499) April 14, 2024
Ms Kalinga