A Guwahati-bound IndiGo flight from Mumbai had to make an unplanned emergency landing in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on Saturday, owing to dense fog. Unable to land at the Guwahati airport due to low visibility, the diverted flight touched down in Dhaka at 4 am.
As per an ANI report, the pilot had initially tried to land the flight in Kolkata but faced unfavourable weather. Following this, the flight was redirected to Bhubaneswar, where the runway was closed. Dhaka was the nearest available airport.
What did IndiGo say?
In a reply to a passenger who took to X, formerly Twitter, to say they had been “stuck inside” the aircraft with 178 passengers for about nine hours, the airline said that the flight was diverted due to bad weather, adding the weather is beyond their control. “Our team is working to assist the passengers to the best of their capabilities. We sincerely look forward to your understanding,” it added.
The passenger, in their post at 7:15 am, said that the flight made a landing in Dhaka at 4 am due to lower visibility in the North East. “We have been waiting for another crew for 4 hours now, can we please expedite?” they added.
In a statement, IndiGo said, “Due to operational reasons, an alternate set of crew is being arranged to operate the flight from Dhaka to Guwahati. The passengers were kept informed of updates and were served refreshments on board. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused.”, ANI reported.
IndiGo has organised a new crew to facilitate the return flight to the original destination for the stranded passengers.
In a post on X, former Mumbai Youth Congress chief Suraj Singh Thakur, who was also onboard said that after the landing all the passengers are in Bangladesh without their passports.