Screams, crying, prayers: Video captures panic inside Hyderabad-Hubaballi flight as it circles airport for 4 hours

The incident had caused panic among passengers as the plane remained airborne for three-and-a-half extra hours on Sunday — hovering over its destination without landing. Terrifying visuals shared online showed many of the travellers in tears, while others prayed or demanded answers from the crew.

Sources told PTI that there had been were 22 passengers on board. Authorities have confirmed that all the travellers were safe. The incident came less than two days after Fly91 launched operations from Hubballi airport with three routes.

Flight unable to land upon reaching

According to a PTI report, the plane had departed from Hyderabad around 3:00 pm. Sources told the news agency that the flight had been unable to land due to unfavourable weather conditions. It was scheduled to reach Hubballi at about 4.30 pm and spent about an hour circling the airport before being diverted to Bengaluru.

An airport official told PTI that such diversions were a standard safety measure. The flight landed in Bengaluru around 6:30 pm, and it was eventually flown back to Hubballi at about 11 pm after weather conditions improved.

“This is general practice. Aircraft circle in the air for some time waiting for the weather to improve. It is the pilot’s decision,” PTI quoted the official as saying.

What has the airline said?

Initial reports had broached the possibility of a technical snag that had left the flight unable to land. Fly91 later said in a statement that there were no such issues.

“The flight departed from Hyderabad at 1500 hours. On nearing Hubballi, the flight encountered bad weather due to which the flight was diverted to Bengaluru as per standard protocol. The flight subsequently returned to Hubballi and back to its home base in Hyderabad. There was zero compromise to safety,” the airline said.