Our Bureau
New Delhi
The tensions between India and Pakistan have not watered down a bit and one such case showcasing that happened on Wednesday. A flight of IndiGo that took off from New Delhi and was set to land in Srinagar faced heavy hailstorm and requested Pakistan to enter their air space to avoid turbulence. This request was rejected at once both by the Indian Air Force and Lahore’s Air Traffic Control tower hence the pilot had to travel through the dire weather conditions.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reported this incident on Friday but the defence sources have denied a part of this claim. The defence sources stated that the IAF-controlled Northern Area Control Centre does not hold the authority to provide Indian aircraft the permission to enter international airspace, which rests with Delhi Air Traffic Control.
The DGCA said, “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 the crew contacted Lahore to enter into their airspace to avoid the weather but the same was refused too.”
The incident took place on 21st May, Wednesday with IndiGo’s 6E 2142 flight that was set to travel from New Delhi to Srinagar in the evening. The pilot who was denied entry into Pakistan’s airspace decided not to turn around as the hailstorm was too close and decided to go through it.
All the passengers and the pilot landed safely, just the nose cone of the plane was damaged. Among the passengers in the plane there were 5 MPs from the Trinamool Congress who were going to Jammu and Kashmir to meet the people who suffered from the cross-border shelling near the Line of Control (LOC).
