Guwahati-bound IndiGo flight diverted to Dhaka; flyers stuck inside plane for hours

A Guwahati-bound IndiGo flight faced an unexpected diversion today as adverse weather conditions disrupted its scheduled landing.

IndiGo flight 6E 5319, en route from Mumbai to Guwahati, was forced to reroute to Dhaka, with passengers stuck inside the plane expressing their frustration on social media.

Attempts to land in Kolkata, the nearest airport to the intended destination, were thwarted by similar inclement weather conditions. Adding to the woes was Bhubaneswar airport’s runway closure, which further complicated the diversion plan, limiting the available options for the IndiGo flight 6E 5319.

The airline is in the process of arranging an alternate set of crew to operate the flight from Dhaka to Guwahati.

“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,” the airline said in a statement.

In a social media post, former Mumbai Youth Congress chief Suraj Singh Thakur, who was on his way to join Congress’s Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra commencing from January 14 in Imphal, said all the passengers are stuck inside the plane in Bangladesh.

“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,” he wrote on X.

Another flyer wrote, “Stuck inside aircraft with 178 passengers for 9 hours now, flying 6E 5319 from Mumbai to Guwahati. We made a landing in Dhaka around 4am because of lower visibility in the North East. We have been waiting for another crew for 4 hours now, can we please expedite?”

Responding to the complaint, IndiGo said, “The flight was diverted due to bad weather which is beyond our control too. Our team is working to assist the passengers to the best of their capabilities. We sincerely look forward to your understanding.”