Crosswind prevented the landing of 11 planes, 9 diverted

Crosswind prevented the landing of 11 planes, and 9 diverted: Due to low pressure, there was a strong wind, and the planes kept circling in the sky for 90 minutes

Aug 21, 2022 - 22:15
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Crosswind prevented the landing of 11 planes, 9 diverted

20 aircraft could not land at Kolkata airport on Friday evening due to a crosswind. From 5 pm to 6.30 pm, these aircraft kept circling in the air. At 8 o'clock at night, this situation happened again for half an hour. During this, the captains of 11 aircraft also tried to land but had to wait due to strong wind, as there was a danger of the aircraft deviating from the runway due to landing in such a situation.
Hundreds of air passengers were stuck for about one and a half hours due to the non-landing. Normally crosswinds are seen for 10 minutes to half an hour, but this time in Kolkata their duration was much longer. During this 9 aircraft reaching Kolkata also had to be diverted.
Strong winds moving in the vertical direction of the aircraft's flight direction are called crosswinds. Due to these, the aircraft may deviate from the runway at the time of landing. There is also the possibility of an accident due to this. At the time of the crosswind in Kolkata, 11 planes tried to land on the runway 16 times. At the same time, 9 planes were diverted to another airport.
According to media reports, the pilots said that the Meteorological Department had issued an alert of strong winds, but no one knew that such a crosswind would be encountered. Usually, its warnings are issued, but this time no one anticipated that due to the crosswind for two hours and minutes, the planes would be hovering.
Crosswind is generally seen from March to May, but its effect lasts only for 10 minutes to half an hour. This time due to the low-pressure area, this crosswind was created, so its effect was seen for 90 minutes. Strong winds have the power to deflect aircraft up to 20 degrees from the runway angle. So the landing was very dangerous. Therefore, in view of the presence of fuel in the aircraft, it was decided to stay in the air.
Narrow-body aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing B737 can tolerate crosswinds of up to 40 kilometres per hour, but on Friday the crosswind was at 94 kilometres per hour. According to the captain of an aircraft, on Friday, the wind was blowing at a speed of 93 kmph at an altitude of 1600 feet and 83 kmph at an altitude of 900 feet. In such a situation it was very difficult to land the plane.
Here, an Indigo plane coming from Delhi to Kolkata had to make a priority landing in Kolkata on Sunday. Actually, smoke was seen in the cargo area of ​​the plane. After this, the crew alerted Kolkata ATC. Priority landing of the aircraft was done in Kolkata. ATC had also alerted the fire brigade of the landing of Indigo flight number 6E-2513.

Muskan Kumawat Journalist & Writer