Chennai: A disturbing video of a passenger flight trying to land at the Chennai airport after it got stuck in a gale amid bad weather and took off again at the last minute is going viral on social media. IndiGo Airlines has now issued an explanation about the incident.
As a result of Cyclone Fenchal, Chennai and its suburbs received heavy rain since early morning Saturday. Due to this, the Chennai airport announced a temporary closure from 12:30 PM yesterday. The airport resumed operations from 1 am today after the rain gradually subsided since evening.
Meanwhile, the IndiGo passenger flight (6E 683), which came from Mumbai to Chennai yesterday, tried to land at the Chennai airport amid bad weather. At that time, due to the wind speed, the plane was descending horizontally towards the runway. While approaching the runway, the pilot suddenly pitched the aircraft again. A video of the scene, which looked like an aerial adventure between wind and rain, went viral on social media. The question of needing to operate the plane was also widely raised on social media while the storm and heavy rain warnings have been issued.
Near-miss incident in Chennai! An Indigo Airlines flight faced challenges during landing due to severe crosswinds and adverse weather conditions.
— Aviator Amarnath Kumar (@aviatoramarnath) December 1, 2024
The pilots made the crucial decision to abort the landing and perform a go-around.
The aircraft banked dangerously to the left but… pic.twitter.com/VQKKDibb1w
IndiGo Airlines issued a statement saying, "Due to adverse weather conditions, including rain and strong, gusty winds (which later led to the closure of Chennai airport), the cockpit crew of flight 6E 683, operating between Mumbai and Chennai, executed a go-around on November 30, 2024, following established safety protocols."
It further clarified that such manoeuvres are standard and the pilots are properly trained to handle such situations. "This is a standard and safe manoeuvre, and our pilots are extensively trained to handle such situations with the utmost professionalism," IndiGo said.
"A go-around is performed when a safe landing cannot be achieved, as was the case with this flight. We would like to reaffirm our commitment to the safety of our passengers, aircraft, and crew members," it added.
Earlier, a total of more than 200 flights departing from and arriving in Chennai were cancelled yesterday due to Cyclone Fenchal and heavy rains. As a result, hundreds of passengers had to wait for 8 to 10 hours at the Chennai airport itself.
