Kolkata: Thunderstorms that raged across south and north Bengal on Wednesday evening forced the diversion of a domestic flight to an international airport. This was an unusual move as domestic flights were usually diverted to another Indian airport in an emergency.Air India Express flight IX 1179 from Delhi to Bagdogra took off from Delhi with around 85 passengers at 5.20 pm and was scheduled to reach its destination at 7.20 pm. En route, it encountered treacherous weather that forced the captain to take a detour. The flight moved in the south-east direction to reach Palamu in Jharkhand before travelling in the north-east direction to reach Darbhanga in Bihar when a message reached the captain that heavy rain in Bagdogra was making flight operations a challenge.Having already made the detour that consumed fuel, the captain circled over Darbhanga before deciding to divert to Kolkata. The aircraft almost came in to land in Kolkata around 7.40 pm and descended to 200 ft when inclement weather forced it to abort landing and go around. For the next 40 minutes, the captain hovered over the city, hoping the weather would improve.With the storm raging over the city and fuel running low, the captain took the call around 8.20 pm to divert to Dhaka. After an hour and 10 minutes, the Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft finally touched down in Dhaka.“We had contacted the airport authority in Dhaka and sought permission for the flight diversion. As a group, we operate from the Dhaka station, and hence, have the support of ground staff. Upon landing, the aircraft was refuelled while waiting for the weather to improve over Bagdogra,” said an airline source.The weather finally improved around 1.10 am Dhaka time or around 12.40 am India time and the plane took off with the passengers at the end of their tether. The plane landed at Bagdogra at 1.29 am, over six hours behind schedule.
