IndiGo flight returns to Kolkata due to closure of Ahmedabad airport after crash

    Kolkata, Jun 12 (PTI) A private airline's flight from Kolkata to Ahmedabad returned to NSCBI Airport here on Thursday after getting airborne since the destination was closed after an Air India aircraft crashed shortly after take-off, officials said.
    IndiGo flight 6E-318, which departed from Kolkata at 1.49 pm, came back after being airborne, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson in Kolkata said.
    The flight which had departed from stand number 53, had 179 passengers on board.
    The aircraft returned to Kolkata after 2.50 pm, the spokesperson said.
    "Today, a total of two aircraft departed for Ahmedabad as per schedule prior to the accident at Ahmedabad airport," a senior AAI official at the NSCBI airport said.
    "At the time of the accident, one aircraft -- 6E318 -- departed from Kolkata but returned to Kolkata as the runway at Ahmedabad airport was closed. The flight was cancelled for the day," Kolkata airport Director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said.
    Another flight 6E292, which was scheduled to depart from Kolkata at 4.10 pm, departed at 6.13 pm, and another flight 6E 961 was scheduled to depart after 9.30 pm, the AAI official said.
    IndiGo flight 6E 6556, which was scheduled to arrive at Kolkata at 7.30 pm, was cancelled for the day. All arrivals from the Ahmedabad airport operated normally till noon, he said.
    On Thursday, a London-bound Air India flight from Ahmedabad crashed shortly after take-off. The Boeing 787-8 aircraft was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. Of them, 169 were Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and one Canadian national. Several casualties are feared.
    The runway at the Ahmedabad airport was closed following the accident.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)