A sudden aviation emergency in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening led to major disruption across India’s air routes. A commercial aircraft crashed minutes after take-off, forcing the immediate suspension of operations at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Several flights, including IndiGo’s Kolkata-Ahmedabad service, were diverted or cancelled, triggering travel chaos and emergency responses at multiple airports across the country.
According to official communication from airport authorities, the aircraft, departing for an international route, encountered critical technical failure moments after ascending and made impact near a residential area. Although details on the extent of damage or casualties are yet to be confirmed, flight operations at the airport were immediately suspended, leading to ripple effects across major aviation corridors.
Nine flights scheduled to depart from Delhi to various cities in Gujarat were cancelled, while incoming planes including one en route from Kolkata to Ahmedabad were forced to abort their journeys midair and return to their origin. The Kolkata-Ahmedabad IndiGo flight turned around an hour into its journey, highlighting the severity of the operational shutdown. Airlines issued advisories urging passengers to check flight statuses before proceeding to airports, especially for routes connecting Delhi, Ahmedabad, and other cities in western India.
While partial resumption of flights was initiated by Thursday evening, normalcy remained elusive as ground operations remained constrained by ongoing investigations and safety reviews. Senior aviation experts said that the immediate closure of the airport was consistent with standard aviation safety protocols. “In any situation involving an incident near a runway or take-off corridor, clearing the airspace and suspending operations is critical for both security and investigative purposes,” one official explained.
The cascading impact on flights across the country also brought attention to the centrality of Ahmedabad as a regional aviation hub. A suspension of its airport not only disrupts western air traffic but also strains alternate routes, putting pressure on airport management in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Jaipur to accommodate diverted or rescheduled flights.
In recent years, India’s civil aviation sector has witnessed exponential growth, but experts have repeatedly emphasised the need for robust emergency response mechanisms. Thursday’s incident has rekindled conversations around real-time risk mitigation, redundancy planning, and the adequacy of current aviation safety frameworks, particularly in high-density zones. For now, the priority remains on stabilising operations and restoring passenger confidence.
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