An Air India Express flight from Delhi to Guwahati had to be diverted to Kolkata as the runway was closed temporarily on 5th January. As per reports, the runway at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport was temporarily shut down after another plane suffered a bird hit and was stranded on the runway.
Air India Express flight IX1067 had arrived in Guwahati by that time and had to circle above the airport as the runway was closed. But as the fuel level of the plane started to come down, the flight was diverted to Kolkata.
There was a lot of panic among the passengers after the pilot announced that they were low on fuel and the flight was heading to Kolkata. The pilot also instructed the cabin crew to prepare for emergency landing.
However, the plane landed safely at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at around 4:10 pm. The flight IX1067 was scheduled to proceed to Dimapur after landing at Guwahati, but the Guwahati-Dimapur leg of the flight was cancelled.
According to flightradar24, the Airbus A320 plane made several circles above Guwahati before diverting to Kolkata. It had descended from around 30000 feet to 5000 feet in preparation for landing, but as the runway was not yet cleared, it was forced to divert due to low fuel.
