IndiGo Amritsar-Ahmedabad flight strays into Pakistan amid bad weather, re-enters Indian airspace: Report

An IndiGo Airlines flight from Amritsar to Ahmedabad strayed into Pakistan before heading back to the Indian airspace without any mishap, a media report said on Sunday.

The flight strayed near Lahore due to bad weather and went up to Gujranwala.

According to flight radar, the Indian plane with a ground speed of 454 knots entered north of Lahore at about 7:30 pm on Saturday and returned to India at 8:01 pm, a report in Pakistani newspaper Dawn said.

There was no immediate comment from the airline.

A senior official of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that it was not unusual as it was internationally allowed in bad weather conditions, the report added.

Pakistan International Airlines flight entered Indian airspace in May

In May, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight entered Indian airspace and stayed there for nearly 10 minutes due to heavy rainfall in Pakistan.

The flight, PK248, was returning from Muscat on 4 May and was attempting to land at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore. However, heavy rainfall made it difficult for the pilot to land the Boeing 777 aircraft.

Meanwhile, several flights were diverted and delayed in Pakistan due to poor visibility at airports.

The CAA spokesman said that it had extended the weather warning for Lahore till 11:30 pm on Saturday as the visibility at the Allama Iqbal International Airport was 5,000 metres.

A number of flights heading to Lahore were diverted to Islamabad due to poor visibility.

Rain accompanied by strong winds and thunder lashed parts of Pakistan on Saturday evening. The worst hit areas were the three adjoining districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province where about 29 people were killed, according to a report by Pakistan’s The Express Tribune newspaper.

Cyclone Biparjoy which has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm is expected to make its landfall near Pakistan and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch coasts around afternoon of 15 June.

With inputs from PTI

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