Pilot changed on passenger demand after Mumbai-bound flight gets diverted to Udaipur: Report

Commotion ensused when an Indigo flight, 6E 2441, which was supposed to fy from Lucknow to Mumbai, took a diversion and landed in Udaipur, according to a report by Hindustan Times.

The flight in question was supposed to depart from Lucknow Airport at 11:10 am, and was to land at 1:15 pm in Mumbai.

Instead, the aircraft made two go-arounds and the pilot decided to take it to the Udaipur airport. The airline said that weather was the casue of the diversion. However, the passengers were of the opinion that the pilot twice aborted a chance to land in Mumbai, besides another attempt to land in Udaipur before it finally touched down.

Soon after the aircraft landed in Udaipur, passengers took to Twitter to complain about the scenario, and some demanded that the pilot be changed.

The passengers' demand was finally met, and the flight finally landed in Mumbai at 8 pm.

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One of the passengers told the publication, “The pilot made two failed attempts at Mumbai Airport and one at Udaipur Airport. The flight touched down at Mumbai Airport, and he took off again. Even in Udaipur where there was no question of bad weather, he failed to land in the first attempt. That’s why all of us decided not to fly with the same pilot. It took three hours for the airline to agree and change the pilot, and we landed back in Mumbai around 8 pm.”

Another said, “We have never faced this in so many years of travel. We could clearly see that the flight touched down on the runway and took off again. A similar thing happened in Udaipur. Like a fruit falling from a tree, the aircraft came down and did a hard landing. It was a tough situation, and it is God’s grace that we landed safely.”

HT reports that Flightradar24.com has revealed that the flight climbed down to around 7,000 feet and kept going down to 300 feet before the pilot diverted it to Udaipur.

An aviation safety consultant, Capt Mohan Ranganathan, told the publication that the pilot had made one attempt to land in Mumbai, revealing, “He entered a holding pattern north of Mumbai before diverting.”

The publication spoke to sources in Mumbai Air Traffic Control, who said that the diversion was caused by winds due to Cyclone Biparjoy.

An Indigo spokesperson said, “Due to bad weather, the pilot could not land in Mumbai and decided to go to Udaipur… After landing in Udaipur, he said he was fatigued and hence asked for crew replacement. This took some time and the flight left after 6 pm.”