India’s aviation regulator grounded two pilots who operated an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar on Wednesday evening.
After it flew through severe hailstorm, officials said on Friday as new details emerged of their interaction with traffic controllers in Lahore and Srinagar amid what was a narrow escape for the 227 people on board.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revealed in a statement that the Airbus A321 Neo at one point plummeted at 8,500 feet per minute—more than four times the normal descent rate—as multiple flight control systems failed while trapped inside the storm, with pilots receiving simultaneous warnings of both stall (a condition in which an aircraft begins to lose altitude) and overspeed conditions as they fought to regain control.
Details also emerged of how the pilots initiated contact with air traffic control in Pakistan after Indian controllers, bound by reciprocal airspace restrictions following recent military tensions, advised against deviating westwards but provided contact frequencies to coordinate directly with Lahore ATC, which denied the request despite the emergency.
“The matter is under investigation by the DGCA,” the regulator confirmed. “As part of the investigations, the two pilots are grounded pending investigation,” a DGCA official said, asking not to be named.
Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu acknowledged the gravity of the situation.
“We are looking into the incident, but in the meantime from the information that I have, I would like to appreciate the efforts of the pilots and the crew who have been very composed in the way they have handled even in that weather that the flight has gone through,” Naidu said.
“We are very thankful that no incident has happened and everyone is safe, but we are going to thoroughly investigate what has exactly happened,” he added.
The incident, described by passengers as “a near-death experience”, unfolded on IndiGo flight 6E-2142, which departed Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at approximately 4:55pm and managed to land in Srinagar at 6:25pm, according to Flightradar24 tracking data.
The crisis began when the aircraft “entered a hailstorm and severe turbulence near Pathankot” whilst “cruising at FL360” (36,000 feet), according to the regulator’s statement.
Recognising the danger ahead, the pilots “requested northern control (under the Indian Air Force) for deviation towards left (the international border) due to weather on the route, however it was not approved.”
Growing increasingly desperate as the storm approached, the “crew contacted Lahore to enter into their airspace to avoid the weather but the same was refused,” the DGCA stated, confirming the aircraft was denied entry to Pakistani airspace despite the developing emergency.
The denials were rooted in the ongoing NOTAM issued by both sides against aircraft registered in the other country. According to a person aware of the matter in the defence ministry, the IAF control’s denial was an advisory based on the Pakistani NOTAM, in place since the cross-border military operations earlier this month.
“Northern area control advised the Indigo crew within the frame of the NOTAM… and immediately assisted in coordinating their route diversion by contacting Delhi area and passing the requisite contact frequencies of Lahore control for an overflight weather diversion request,” this person explained.
However, Lahore control, according to the DGCA, did not allow overflight permission, leaving the crew with no viable escape route.
The “crew initially attempted to return back but as they were close to the thunderstorm cloud, they decided to penetrate the weather,” the regulator stated.
What followed was a cacophony of alarms and alerts for the pilots. “While in thunder storm cloud, warnings of angle of attack fault, alternate law protection lost, backup speed scale unreliable were triggered. Due to updraft and down draft encountered by the aircraft the autopilot tripped and aircraft speed had wide variations,” the DGCA stated.
In other words, several of the aircraft’s computerised systems failed one by one, forcing the pilots to fly manually through violent turbulence without reliable instruments or the normal protections that prevent a modern airliner from stalling or exceeding its structural limits.
At the height of the crisis, “the aircraft rate of descent reached 8500 fpm,” the DGCA stated. “Crew flew the aircraft manually till they exit the hailstorm.” For context, aircraft normally descend at 1,500 to 2,000 feet per minute.
After regaining control, the crew declared emergency. “After carrying out all check list actions, crew declared PAN PAN to Srinagar ATC and requested for radar vectors and made a safe landing with auto thrust operating normally,” the report stated.
PAN PAN is an international urgency signal indicating serious difficulty requiring assistance, one level below a MAYDAY distress call.
The DGCA confirmed no passengers were injured, though “post flight walk around revealed damage to the nose radome”—impact damage visible as holes in the aircraft’s nose structure.
Aviation experts, while praising the crew’s ultimate recovery, questioned the decisions that led to the crisis.
An Airports Authority of India official, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that the direct pilot-to-Lahore contact was highly unusual and indicated desperation. “Though the pilots did a fantastic job by landing safely even in such massive turbulence, they should have avoided the situation.”
Weather conditions that day were particularly severe, according to meteorological experts. Mahesh Palawat, vice president of climate and meteorology at Skymet Weather, explained: “Thunder clouds are huge, high clouds. Since that day a lot of thunderstorm activity impacted northwest India, it’s likely that the plane had to pass through one such cloud. The weather was suddenly more intense.”
He emphasised that “passing through such areas of thunderclouds and storms can cause intense turbulence causing damage to equipment and passengers.”