IndiGo Amritsar-Ahmedabad flight enters Pakistan amid bad weather
1 min read 11 Jun 2023, 04:37 PM ISTAn IndiGo flight from Amritsar to Ahmedabad reportedly strayed into Pakistani airspace for half an hour due to bad weather on Saturday. It eventually returned to India without incident.
PremiumAn IndiGo flight from Amritsar to Ahmedabad strayed into Pakistani airspace for approximately half an hour on Saturday. The incident took place at around 7:30 pm due to bad weather conditions with the plane going up to Gujranwala (close to Lahore). According to local media reports it eventually returned to India at 8:01 pm.
“An IndiGo flight temporarily entered Pakistan airspace yesterday due to bad weather. The flight was scheduled from Amritsar to Ahmedabad. It landed safely in Ahmedabad," IndiGo officials told news agency ANI.
According to a report by Pakistani publication Dawn citing flight radar data, the Indian carrier had entered north of Lahore with a ground speed of 454 knots. The report quoted a Civil Aviation Authority official to explain that this was “internationally allowed" in bad weather conditions. Several flights heading to Lahore were also diverted to Islamabad on Saturday due to ‘poor visibility’.
Rain accompanied by strong winds and thunder lashed parts of Pakistan on Saturday evening. Several people were killed due to inclement weather conditions in the three adjoining districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Authorities have declared an emergency in four districts of northwest Pakistan.
According to data from flight tracking websites, the plane had deviated from its route soon after takeoff from Amritsar at 7:45 pm. The IndiGo flight travelled over Gujranwala and forming a wide loop around Lahore before it eventually returned to Indian airspace near the Sri Muktsar Sahib city in Punjab.
In spite of the detour, records indicate that the flight landed slightly ahead of time at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
(With inputs from agencies)