DGCA grounds 2 IndiGo pilots of turbulent Delhi-Srinagar flight

India’s aviation authority suspended two pilots of an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar on Wednesday evening after it navigated through a harsh hailstorm, officials reported on Friday, as fresh details surfaced regarding their communications with traffic controllers in Lahore and Srinagar during what turned out to be a close call for the 227 passengers aboard.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) disclosed in a statement that the Airbus A321 Neo once dropped at a rate of 8,500 feet per minute—over four times the typical descent rate—due to several flight control systems failing while caught in the storm, with pilots encountering simultaneous alerts for both stall (a situation where an aircraft starts losing altitude) and overspeed conditions as they struggled to regain control.

Information also revealed how the pilots reached out to Pakistan’s air traffic control after Indian controllers, limited by mutual airspace restrictions due to recent military tensions, recommended against moving westward but shared contact frequencies to communicate directly with Lahore ATC, which refused 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 faced turbulances 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.