New Delhi: A Patna bound IndiGo flight was forced to abort landing at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport in Patna on Tuesday after the pilot deemed the approach “unstable”.

The Airbus A-320 designated as flight 6E 2482 had 173 passengers onboard and was flying from Delhi to Patna when it approached the airport for a routine landing at around 9 pm. However, as the aircraft neared the airport, the pilot realized that the conditions were not optimal for landing.

The plane touched down slightly on the runway but had slightly overshot the ideal touchdown zone. Since this left insufficient runway length to safely bring the aircraft to a full halt, the pilot decided to abort the landing and take-off again to attempt a go-around, said a report in Mathrubhumi online.

A go-around is a safety manoeuvre in which an aircraft which attempted initial, is taken back into the air and a second landing is attempted. This situation occurs when conditions for landing don’t meet safety standards and can take place due to various reasons.

The passengers were alarmed by the incident, but the crew reassured them explaining that there was no reason to panic and that the double attempt was made due to technical issues.

According to officials, the aircraft flew in circles over Patna airport after initiating the go-around before starting the second approach which was successful. No injuries or damage was reported and all passengers were completely safe.

The Patna airport is known to be challenging for landing aircraft. This is due to the relatively short runway and the nearby Secretariat Tower, which forces aircraft to opt for a steep angle while landing. Such a situation can result in unstable approaches as happened with flight 6E 2482.

(Curated by Lakshya Jha)