Kolkata: Sunday afternoon's thundershower dragged the mercury down instantly by almost six degrees Celsius, but it also caused disruption in flight operations at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
Formation of heavy clouds led to suspension of flight operations for about half an hour at Kolkata airport on Sunday afternoon. At least seven incoming flights had to hover around for 15-20 minutes before they were able to land, while an IndiGo flight from Agartala had to be diverted to Bhubaneswar as it was running low on fuel.
As all the aircraft now come equipped with a weather radar, pilots get an early warning of cumulonimbus clouds that can wreck havoc. These storm clouds not only generate extreme air turbulence, heavy lightning strikes also take place due to it.
"The flight kept hovering over Kolkata and suddenly we were told that the aircraft had to be diverted to Bhubaneshwar. After landing in Bhubaneshwar, we had to wait in the aircraft for about an hour. The flight then took off from there and landed in Kolkata at 6pm. Earlier, it was scheduled to arrive in Kolkata at 3pm," said a passenger who was coming to the city from Agartala on the IndiGo flight.
06/04/15 Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Formation of heavy clouds led to suspension of flight operations for about half an hour at Kolkata airport on Sunday afternoon. At least seven incoming flights had to hover around for 15-20 minutes before they were able to land, while an IndiGo flight from Agartala had to be diverted to Bhubaneswar as it was running low on fuel.
As all the aircraft now come equipped with a weather radar, pilots get an early warning of cumulonimbus clouds that can wreck havoc. These storm clouds not only generate extreme air turbulence, heavy lightning strikes also take place due to it.
"The flight kept hovering over Kolkata and suddenly we were told that the aircraft had to be diverted to Bhubaneshwar. After landing in Bhubaneshwar, we had to wait in the aircraft for about an hour. The flight then took off from there and landed in Kolkata at 6pm. Earlier, it was scheduled to arrive in Kolkata at 3pm," said a passenger who was coming to the city from Agartala on the IndiGo flight.
06/04/15 Times of India
