A recent incident at Patna Airport involving an IndiGo flight has stirred up memories of a tragic crash that occurred nearly 25 years ago. On Tuesday night, an IndiGo flight 6E-2482 from Delhi to Patna, carrying 173 passengers, faced difficulties during landing at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport. The pilot, sensing that the aircraft had overshot the safe landing zone due to Patna's short runway, decided to abort the landing and initiated a "go-around".
According to airport sources, the aircraft's wheels had initially touched down, but the plane overshot its intended touchdown point. Patna's runway is just over 2,070 metres in length. The pilot kept the flight airborne for about five minutes, circling the airport three to four times before successfully landing on the second attempt. Passengers were told by crew members that the go-around was due to technical reasons, which helped to calm any fears.
This incident has brought back memories of the Alliance Air Flight 7412 crash on July 17, 2000. The Alliance Air flight, which was en route from Kolkata to Delhi with a stopover in Patna, crashed into a residential area in Gardanibagh. The crash claimed the lives of 60 people, including all crew members and several people on the ground.
According to a Court of Inquiry report, the 2000 crash was attributed to pilot error. The pilots reportedly failed to follow proper landing protocols and reduced the aircraft's speed to unsafe levels, causing it to stall. The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-200. As it neared Patna airport around 7:30 am, the pilots realized the plane was flying too high to land safely. They requested permission to make a full 360-degree turn to lose altitude, but while turning, the plane lost lift and crashed into the Gardani Bagh residential area.
In light of the recent IndiGo incident, the limitations of Patna airport's infrastructure have been highlighted. The current runway length of 2,072.64 metres is considered short for modern safety norms, especially for larger aircraft. There are plans to extend the runway by 1,584.96 metres, bringing the total length to 3,657.6 metres. This upgrade has gained urgency following a recent advisory by the central government, prompted by the Ahmedabad runway overrun incident, which calls for enhanced runway safety and upgrades at airports nationwide.
Adding to concerns, another IndiGo flight, also operating from Patna, experienced a mid-air incident just a week prior. On Wednesday, July 9, 2025, an IndiGo flight bound for Delhi made an emergency landing in Patna after a bird strike caused a technical snag in one of its engines. The flight, carrying 175 passengers, took off at 8:42 am and reported the bird hit shortly after departure. The crew reported vibrations in one of the engines and requested to return to Patna. The aircraft landed safely at 9:03 am on Runway 7, and all passengers were safe.
