Indian plane veers into Pakistani airspace amid bad weather

Rawalpindi:  IndiGo Airlines flight traveling from Amritsar to Ahmedabad inadvertently strayed into Pakistani airspace near Lahore before turning back.

The plane reentered Indian airspace at approximately 8:00 pm on Saturday.

Flight radar data revealed that the Indian aircraft, with a ground speed of 454 knots, entered north of Lahore at around 7:30 pm and returned to India by 8:01 pm.

A senior official from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stated that such occurrences were not uncommon during adverse weather conditions, as it falls within the "internationally allowed" protocol.

Meanwhile, numerous flights faced diversions and delays due to poor visibility caused by a weather alert issued by the CAA.

The CAA spokesman extended the weather warning for Lahore until 11:30 pm on Saturday, as the visibility at Allama Iqbal International Airport dropped to 5,000 meters.

A PIA flight from Abu Dhabi to Islamabad was diverted to Multan, while a Jeddah-Lahore flight was also rerouted to Multan.

PIA flights from Lahore to Madina and Karachi to Lahore, along with an Etihad flight from Lahore to Abu Dhabi, experienced delays.