Denied airspace by Pakistan, IndiGo flight hit hailstorm, confirms DGCA

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday, 23 May, confirmed that an IndiGo flight operating from Delhi to Srinagar on 21 May encountered severe turbulence and hailstorm conditions after requests by the crew to deviate from its flight path — including a plea to enter Pakistan’s air space — were denied.

The aircraft sustained significant damage to its nose, but landed safely in Srinagar with all passengers unharmed, the regulator confirmed in its preliminary findings.

Among the passengers was a five-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress, comprising Derek O'Brien, Nadimul Haque, Sagarika Ghose, Manas Bhunia and Mamata Thakur, on their way to visit Poonch.

The DGCA stated that IndiGo flight 6E 2142, which operates using an Airbus A321 Neo (VT-IMD), was cruising at 36,000 feet near Pathankot when it encountered dangerous weather. The crew first requested permission from the Indian Air Force-controlled Northern Control to veer left towards the international border to avoid a thunderstorm. This request was not approved.

Subsequently, the crew contacted Lahore Air Traffic Control seeking emergency clearance to enter Pakistani airspace. That request too was turned down.

With limited options and rapidly worsening conditions, the pilots initially attempted a return, but were forced to continue on course and penetrate the weather to take the quickest route to safety.

“While inside the thunderstorm cloud, the aircraft encountered a hailstorm and severe turbulence,” the DGCA said. The storm triggered multiple technical warnings including an ‘angle of attack’ fault, loss of ‘alternate law’ protection and unreliable speed scale readings. The aircraft’s autopilot disengaged due to the violent updrafts and downdrafts, causing significant airspeed fluctuations.

As the turbulence intensified, the plane received both ‘maximum operating speed (VMO)’ and repeated stall warnings. The aircraft also experienced a steep descent at a rate of 8,500 feet per minute. Through all this, the pilots had to manually fly the aircraft through the storm until conditions stabilised.

After executing all checklist actions through the ECAM (electronic centralised aircraft monitoring) system, the crew declared a ‘pan-pan’ emergency to Srinagar Air Traffic Control — a standard distress call just below a full ‘mayday’ — and requested radar vectors.

Despite poor visibility and continuing high winds, the aircraft finally landed safely at Srinagar International Airport at 6:30 p.m.

Post-flight inspection revealed visible damage to the aircraft’s nose radome, most likely from hail impact. IndiGo has since grounded the aircraft in Srinagar under ‘aircraft on ground (AOG)’ status for inspection and repairs.

The DGCA stressed that there were no injuries to passengers or crew. Viral videos from the flight captured the chaos onboard, with overhead bins rattling, luggage falling and visibly distressed passengers praying and gripping their seats during the ordeal.

TMC leader Sagarika Ghose reportedly termed the ordeal a “near-death experience”, while adding a grateful “hats off to the pilot”.

“The matter is under investigation. Preliminary findings indicate that the crew acted in accordance with operational procedures given the severe meteorological and navigational constraints they faced,” the DGCA noted.

This incident has once again brought into focus the operational challenges faced by commercial flights navigating extreme weather, particularly in restricted airspace regions.