An IndiGo flight from Ayodhya to the national capital was diverted due to bad weather to Chandigarh where it landed with just 1 or 2 minutes of fuel left on Saturday, a Delhi police officer has said even as the airline on Monday asserted that the aircraft had sufficient fuel.
In a post on X, Satish Kumar, who is DCP Crime with the Delhi Police, said he had a harrowing experience with IndiGo flight 6E 2702 from Ayodhya to Delhi.
He said the flight's scheduled departure time was 3:25 p.m. and scheduled arrival time was 4:30 p.m. but at around 4:15 p.m., the pilot announced that there was bad weather at the Delhi airport and that the plane had 45 minutes of holding fuel.
"The pilot attempted landing twice, couldn't due to bad weather and still wasted lot of time deciding the next course of action.
"At 5:30 p.m. (after a lapse of 75 minutes since the Holding fuel announcement) the pilot announced that he'll finally attempt landing at Chandigarh... finally the plane managed to land at 6:10 p.m. at Chandigarh Airport after a lapse of 115 minutes since the 45 minutes holding fuel announcement," Mr. Kumar said in the post on Sunday evening.
Mr. Kumar also said that he got to know after landing from the crew that there was only 1 or 2 minutes of fuel left.
In the post tagging regulator DGCA, the Civil Aviation Ministry, Delhi airport and IndiGo, he also said that it should be enquired if "all SOPs were followed or was it the narrowest escape?".
IndiGo, in a statement on Monday, said the flight was diverted to Chandigarh due to bad weather in Delhi and that the captain executed a go-around which is in line with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
"This is an absolutely safe manoeuvre. The aircraft had sufficient fuel at all times to divert to an alternate airport, as per regulations," the airline said and regretted any inconvenience that may have been caused due to factors beyond its control.
