Bees, bad weather, & runway drama: IndiGo, Air India, Swiss jet face bizzare turbulence as rough streak continues

Time of India

08-07-2025

India's crowded skies and overstretched aviation infrastructure faced a string of unusual and tense incidents over the past two days.
From an unexpected swarm of bees grounding a commercial flight in Surat, to a near runway conflict in Delhi that forced a SWISS aircraft to abort landing, and a weather-related diversion in Jaipur that left Air India passengers stranded overnight, the incidents have left many in a haze as the aviation industry's bad luck continues to prevail.
Swarm of bees grounds IndiGo Surat flight
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A Surat-Jaipur IndiGo flight scheduled for departure at 4.40 pm on Monday was delayed by almost 50 minutes after airline staff noticed a swarm of bees clustering on the aircraft's cargo compartment shutter, according to a TOI report.
As ground workers were loading baggage, they saw the bees covering one side of the compartment and quickly alerted airport authorities. A fire tender was dispatched to handle the situation.
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'We informed the airport's fire team. They used a jet of water to remove the bees. Even for the fire crew, this was a first,' an airport official said.
No injuries were reported, but passengers already seated on the flight captured videos of the spectacle, with many sharing images of the massive swarm on social media.
Delhi ATC orders go-around to avoid runway collision
TOI further reported that late Sunday night, alert air traffic controllers at Delhi's IGI Airport prevented a potentially dangerous situation when a SWISS flight from Zurich was forced to abort its landing because another arriving plane did not vacate the runway in time.
At around 11.40 pm, SWISS flight LX 146 was eight nautical miles from touchdown behind an A320 arriving from Phuket. The A320 slowed its approach and then occupied the runway for 25-30 seconds longer than anticipated after opting to exit via a farther taxiway.
"Since the first aircraft did not vacate quickly, ATC asked SWISS to go around for safety reasons," a senior controller said. The Airbus A330 climbed back to 1,400 feet and landed safely on its second attempt at 11.51 pm.
The incident happened as Delhi operated with only three runways due to maintenance closures and strong easterly winds reducing capacity to 32 arrivals per hour.
Air India passengers stranded after diversion to Jaipur
Meanwhile, on the same night, an Air India flight AI 926 from Riyadh to Delhi was forced to divert to Jaipur due to bad weather over the capital. Passengers alleged they were kept inside the aircraft for three hours without food or updates.
Hassan Shareef, one of the passengers, posted on X that after disembarking, travellers waited another three hours at Jaipur Airport and were later provided a 'cheap category bus' to Delhi instead of an alternative flight or hotel accommodation.
Air India acknowledged the diversion but said the disruption was caused by weather conditions beyond the airline's control.