The incident began when Indigo flight 6E-2142 was flying just north of Pathankot in Punjab. The pilots contacted the IAF’s Northern Area Control at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir, requesting permission to divert approximately 180 km west into Pakistan to skirt around the approaching storm. However, the IAF team at Udhampur refused permission, citing that the authority to approve a route change lay with the air traffic controllers at New Delhi. The Indigo crew was also advised about a notice to airmen (NOTAM) issued by Pakistan last month, barring Indian-owned airliners from overflying Pakistan.
According to sources, the passenger flight’s crew was assisted in coordinating their route diversion by contacting Delhi Area Control and obtaining the requisite contact frequencies for Lahore Control to request overflight clearance for weather diversion. However, Lahore ATC refused overflight clearance, and the aircraft proceeded towards Srinagar.
The Indigo flight, an Airbus A321 Neo, is equipped with a built-in Doppler weather radar. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a probe to investigate why the pilots chose to fly into the hailstorm instead of diverting to Amritsar or Pathankot after being refused permission to fly westwards.
Once the aircraft entered the hailstorm, the pilots faced a potentially life-threatening situation, encountering severe turbulence and huge variations in airspeed. The plane descended at 8,500 ft per minute at one point, exceeding the typical 1,500–2,000 ft per minute for a standard approach.
