Facing extreme weather conditions caused by Cyclone Fengal, an IndiGo Airbus A320neo had to execute a dramatic go-around during its final approach to Chennai Airport on December 1, 2024.
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The conditions for a peaceful landing are not always met during a flight. Pilots sometimes have no choice but to go around again. A situation encountered by an Airbus A320neo of the IndiGo company on December 1, 2024, on Chennai Airport in India due to extreme weather conditions caused by the cyclone Fengal.
A video, which has gone viral on social media, shows the plane struggling to land on the runway. Just as his wheels were about to touch the ground, the pilot made the crucial decision to abort the landing and go around again.
IndiGo quickly responded to the incident by issuing a statement explaining that the crew of flight 6E-683, flying from Mumbai to Chennai, had followed established safety protocols by executing a “go-around”. The airline stressed that this maneuver is standard and that its pilots are trained to handle this type of situation.
As France Info journalist Frédéric Bénadia recalled in 2016: the go-around is a normal procedure and a few years ago an Airbus A340, from Air France, had an accident in Toronto, “due to an error of judgment by the pilot who did not want to go around, the plane crashed at the end of the runway.”
Read: Easyjet's Airbus A320neo skims Lake Geneva during its landing, almost crashing
“There are several reasons that can justify a go-around. The pilot can estimate that either the speed of his plane is too fast, that he is a little too high on the descent plane, that he is hampered by a strong gust of wind or a change in direction of the wind. We can go around due to bad weather conditions.”
Due to these extreme weather conditions, the Chennai airport was forced to suspend its operations. 20 deaths were reported on Monday December 2 in India and Sri Lanka after the passage of Cyclone Fengal.
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