An IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Guwahati was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka due to dense fog on Saturday. The diverted flight landed in Dhaka at 4 am after it was unable to land at the Guwahati airport due to low visibility.
The airline said the passengers, who are still inside the landed plane, were given refreshments while an alternate crew to fly them back to Guwahati is being arranged.
“IndiGo flight 6E 5319 from Mumbai to Guwahati was diverted to Dhaka, Bangladesh due to bad weather in Guwahati. Due to operational reasons, an alternate set of crew is being arranged to operate the flight from Dhaka to Guwahati. The passengers were kept informed of updates and were served with refreshments on board. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused,” IndiGo said in a statement.
Several passengers took to social media to share their frustration over the long wait after the abrupt diversion. In a post on X, former Mumbai Youth Congress chief Suraj Singh Thakur, on his way to join Congress’s Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra in Imphal, said the passengers were stuck on the flight for hours.
I took @IndiGo6E flight 6E 5319 from Mumbai to Guwahati. But due to dense fog, the flight couldn't land in Guwahati. Instead, it landed in Dhaka. Now all the passengers are in Bangladesh without their passports, we are inside the plane.✈️
— Suraj Singh Thakur (@SurajThakurINC) January 13, 2024
The passengers have been still inside the plane for nine hours, Mr Thakur said.
Another flier, in a post on X, said the 178 passengers had been waiting for over four hours for another crew to fly them back to their destination.
The airline responded to the post saying the flight was diverted due to bad weather but did not specify when the flight will leave the Bangladesh capital.
