New Delhi: Days after a Mumbai-Delhi Vistara flight suffered a mid-air scare that ended with a delayed landing in Lucknow and the two pilots being de-rostered, new details of the hours of horror are emerging with passengers sharing first-hand accounts.
A passenger on board the flight called the experience “worse than Gemini Circus’ giant wheel”.
Senior journalist Sheela Bhatt, treasurer of the Editors’ Guild of India, said she had texted her brother ‘Farewell’, because she was not sure if the plane would land safely. “Vistara gave me a fright I never got before. For a frequent flier like me, it was a routine journey. But that day, for a few minutes, I thought I am near death,” she recalled.
However, three days after the incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given clearance to the de-rostered pilots to resume flying. “After perusal of facts of the matter, both the involved crew are hereby cleared for resuming their normal flying duties without prejudice to outcome of final investigation report,” it told Vistara in a letter.
The incident took place on 15 July. Flight UK 944, an Airbus A320neo carrying over 150 passengers, took off from Mumbai at around 2:45 pm, and was scheduled to land in Delhi around 5 pm.
However, it couldn’t land thanks to adverse weather conditions, and proceeded to its ‘destination alternate’, Lucknow, according to a statement issued by Vistara, backed up later by the DGCA’s account of events.
But there were low visibility conditions in Lucknow, forcing the pilots to seek diversion to Kanpur, which the Kanpur air traffic control (ATC) did not allow. Meanwhile, ATC Lucknow was alerted that the plane was low on fuel and needed to land at the earliest.
Another landing option was Prayagraj, and according to Vistara’s statement, the pilots informed passengers that they would be heading there. But soon after turning towards Prayagraj, ATC Lucknow alerted pilots to return as weather conditions had improved. This time the passengers were not informed, and the Vistara spokesperson said the decision was taken in a hurry and passengers couldn’t be informed.
The flight finally landed at IGI airport, Delhi, at 1:30 am, and passengers managed to exit the airport at 2:10 am.
19/07/19 Ifrah Mufti/Print
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A passenger on board the flight called the experience “worse than Gemini Circus’ giant wheel”.
Senior journalist Sheela Bhatt, treasurer of the Editors’ Guild of India, said she had texted her brother ‘Farewell’, because she was not sure if the plane would land safely. “Vistara gave me a fright I never got before. For a frequent flier like me, it was a routine journey. But that day, for a few minutes, I thought I am near death,” she recalled.
However, three days after the incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given clearance to the de-rostered pilots to resume flying. “After perusal of facts of the matter, both the involved crew are hereby cleared for resuming their normal flying duties without prejudice to outcome of final investigation report,” it told Vistara in a letter.
The incident took place on 15 July. Flight UK 944, an Airbus A320neo carrying over 150 passengers, took off from Mumbai at around 2:45 pm, and was scheduled to land in Delhi around 5 pm.
However, it couldn’t land thanks to adverse weather conditions, and proceeded to its ‘destination alternate’, Lucknow, according to a statement issued by Vistara, backed up later by the DGCA’s account of events.
But there were low visibility conditions in Lucknow, forcing the pilots to seek diversion to Kanpur, which the Kanpur air traffic control (ATC) did not allow. Meanwhile, ATC Lucknow was alerted that the plane was low on fuel and needed to land at the earliest.
Another landing option was Prayagraj, and according to Vistara’s statement, the pilots informed passengers that they would be heading there. But soon after turning towards Prayagraj, ATC Lucknow alerted pilots to return as weather conditions had improved. This time the passengers were not informed, and the Vistara spokesperson said the decision was taken in a hurry and passengers couldn’t be informed.
The flight finally landed at IGI airport, Delhi, at 1:30 am, and passengers managed to exit the airport at 2:10 am.
19/07/19 Ifrah Mufti/Print
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