It came as a shock to many that an IndiGo flight with registrations 6Q-GWA flying from Bengaluru to Goa was forced to return to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru on Tuesday, 8th of October due to a low fuel situation owing to unfavourable weather. The flight, which took off at approximately 5:50 PM, faced a lot of turbulence and bad weather near Goa, which forced the flight back just past 7:45 PM.
Newspapers show that due to a breach of interaction between heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and lightning in the Goa region, they had to turn back their course. Originally scheduled to land at Dabolim Airport in Goa at 6:45 PM, a lot of time was lost, and the aeroplane only landed close to 11 PM. This made several passengers aboard the aeroplane very annoyed, given that they had to spend hours waiting to be informed of what was going on by the airlines.
This is the Airbus A321 with a capacity for gross passenger loads, which slammed into a Hawaiian home last month during bad weather it is a regular and frequently travelled model, but the occurrence illustrates instances when unexpected adverse weather conditions affect airline services. Though IndiGo had not come up with an official response on this issue, the authorities of Goa International Airport reported that at least five other flights were delayed due to the same weather conditions on the same day. Among these, two flights were diverted to Hyderabad, and three of them were diverted to Bengaluru again.
The adverse weather conditions in Goa persisted until after midnight, with normal flight operations only resuming around 12:10 AM on Wednesday. Even if all the delayed passengers were returned safely to Bengaluru, this episode clearly shows that in severe climate conditions, aviation operations can unveil themselves as very unpredictable. At the moment, IndiGo has not shared any other information about possible reimbursement for those who are impacted by their disruptions or about what is being done to cope with the consequences of this event. Passengers are advised to check the status of their flights and the weather conditions before they move.
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