By Nandan Mandayam and Abhijith Ganapavaram
(Reuters) -An IndiGo passenger plane attempting to avoid severe weather en route to Indian Kashmir was denied permission to divert towards Pakistan by both the Indian Air Force and Pakistan, India’s aviation regulator said on Friday.
No passengers were injured when the flight from India’s capital Delhi to the northern Indian city of Srinagar was forced to fly through a hailstorm. But a post-landing inspection revealed damage to the aircraft’s nose, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement, adding that the incident was under investigation.
An image shared by the Times of India newspaper on the social media platform X showed a large hole in the front of the aircraft, while a video also circulating on the site showed passengers screaming and praying during the turbulence. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video.
The incident highlights the risks commercial airlines and passengers face after tensions between India and Pakistan led the two nuclear-armed neighbours to close their airspaces to each other’s airlines last month.
The Airbus A321neo, which typically has seating capacity for 180 to 220 passengers, was first denied a request to turn towards the India-Pakistan border by the Indian Air Force, the regulator said, without specifying the reason.
The IAF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The flight crew then contacted the city of Lahore in Pakistan requesting entry into Pakistan’s airspace, but that was also denied, the DGCA said.
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority declined to comment.
The crew of flight 6E 2142 then flew through the storm, choosing the shortest route to Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.
“The flight and cabin crew followed established protocol and the aircraft landed safely in Srinagar,” IndiGo said in a statement.
It later said the aircraft was undergoing checks in Srinagar and would resume operations once clearances had been secured.
Tensions flared between India and Pakistan following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir in April, eventually triggering the two neighbours’ worst military conflict in nearly three decades.
The two countries declared a truce earlier this month. Their airspaces, however, remain closed to each other’s airlines.
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru, Abhijith Ganapavaram in New Delhi and Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Joe Bavier)
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