Near-death experience, says TMC MP as Indigo flight to Srinagar faces turbulence, damage during storm
Date : 22nd May, 2025
Amid heavy rain and hailstorm in Delhi, an IndiGo flight heading to Srinagar faced severe turbulence and damage on Wednesday evening. While the nose of the aircraft suffered damages due to the weather, the flight landed safely, according to Srinagar Airport Director Javed Anjum.
“Flight 6E 2142 enocountered bad weather and a hail storm and emergency was reported by the pilot to the ATC. However, the flight landed safely at Srinagar at 8.30 pm. All Aircrew and passengers are safe,” the spokesperson of the Srinagar Airport Authority, adding that there were 227 passengers on board.
Among those on board were Trinamool Congress MPs Sagarika Ghose, Derek O’Brien, Mamata Bala Thakur, and Nadimul Haque.
“IndiGo flight 6E 2142 operating from Delhi to Srinagar encountered sudden hailstorm en route. The flight and cabin crew followed established protocol and the aircraft landed safely in Srinagar,” a statement from Indigo said.
According to live flight tracking website Flightradar24, the aircraft landed in Srinagar at its scheduled time of 6:30 pm.
Severe turbulence was reported during the flight.
“The airport team attended to the customers after arrival of the aircraft, prioritizing their wellbeing and comfort. The aircraft will be released post necessary inspection and maintenance,” the airline said.
The return flight from Srinagar to Delhi, 6E 2268, which was scheduled to take off from Srinagar at 7:05 pm and reach Delhi at 8:40 pm, had still not departed, as of 9:24 pm, according to Flightradar24.
A red alert was issued in Delhi in the evening on Wednesday as strong winds, up to 79 kmph, swept across the city. At least one person was killed and several electricity poles were uprooted during the storm.
On the flight were four MPs of the Trinamool Congress – the party’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghose, Md Nadimul Haque and Mamata Thakur. The four were part of the TMC delegation which will visit Srinagar, Poonch and Rajouri to express solidarity with the people affected by cross-border attacks.
The delegation is being led by West Bengal minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia
“It was a near death experience for all the passengers. We saw death up close. People on the flight were screaming and praying as the plane lunged from one side to another dangerously. But hats off to the pilot who brought the plane down safely. He kept lowering the altitude and some of us thought we were plummeting but the pilot actually took the plane below the storm. I can’t thank the pilot enough. It was the most terrifying, apocalyptic experience for all of us..for every passenger. Once the plane landed, we saw that it’s nose had blown off. It was scary because had the cockpit got affected.. the pilot would have been incapacitated,” Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose told the The Indian Express.
