Inside a harrowing, hail-damaged flight: ‘We thought it was our last'
But within minutes, the plane encountered a severe hailstorm and suddenly plunged. Samiullah and other passengers aboard the Wednesday flight by an IndiGo passenger jet traveling from the Indian capital of New Delhi to Srinagar, in the Kashmir region, started screaming and shouting. Even the flight attendants were crying, he said.
'They were calling their gods, we were calling our gods,' Samiullah, 33, said of the passengers shouting prayers in Hindi and Arabic. 'We thought it was our last flight; we thought we were going to die.'
The plane jolted upward and from side to side, and then plunged again, over a period of five to six minutes, Samiullah recounted. He was sure the plane would crash into the mountains below or be struck by the lightning visible from the windows.
A video that Samiullah, the CEO of a logistics company, posted on social media showed terrified passengers exclaiming as the plane jolted.
'Nobody was expecting we would go for a safe landing,' he said.
But about 20 minutes after all the turmoil and fright, the plane landed safely. As passengers deplaned, they noticed a large chunk of the plane's nose was missing, apparently damaged by the hail.
IndiGo said in a statement Wednesday that the flight had encountered a 'sudden hailstorm.' It added: 'The flight and cabin crew followed established protocol, and the aircraft landed safely in Srinagar.'
Hail and turbulence — or unstable air movement caused by changes in wind speed and direction — are the greatest hazards to aircraft during thunderstorms, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Hail can freeze onto other pieces of hail, sometimes growing into a huge ice ball. Hailstones larger than half an inch in diameter can 'significantly damage an aircraft in a few seconds,' the agency said. Hail can occur even in clear air several miles from a thunderstorm.
Passenger aircraft are not designed to absorb large hailstone impacts without damage, Airbus said in its Safety First magazine. Extreme hailstorms can lead to loss of visibility, unreliable air data or engine failure, and the best way to avoid them is to rely on weather radars.
Last year, a 73-year-old British man died and dozens were injured when a Singapore Airlines plane hit intense turbulence 10 hours into a flight from London to Singapore. The plane rose unexpectedly by 362 feet, likely because of an updraft, and sped up unexpectedly. Pilots manually hit the brakes in response, and the plane lost about 178 feet of altitude in less than five seconds.
This article originally appeared in
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
2 hours ago
- Observer
Indians dominate air travellers in Oman: NCSI
Muscat: Indians dominated the number of international passengers using all airports in the Sultanate with 113,213 departures and 88,579 arrivals in the first five months of 2025, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) report on tourism. While 2,478,387 passengers used 17,729 international flights, 382,577 passengers used 2,882 international flights. It may be noted that the Sultanate of Oman is witnessing a significant drop in the number of expatriate workforce from Bangladesh and generally from the subcontinent, according to NCSI. The number of Indian expatriates increased marginally from 506,630 to 508,386. They were followed by Omanis with 57,104 departures and 55,482 arrivals, Pakistanis with 26,529 departures and 21,628 arrivals, Bangladeshis with 26,817 departures and 17,942 arrivals, Egyptians with 14,669 departures and 10,606 arrivals, and Iranians with 10,155 departures and 10,196 arrivals. There was a drop of 28.8 percent in the number of Pakistani nationals arriving on international flights during the period. The number of expatriate workers from Bangladesh dropped by 637,152 to 621,048 in June 2025, compared to last year, while the Sri Lankan expatriate workers in the Sultanate of Oman have dropped from 24,156 in 2024 to 22,440 during the same period. Among others, the number of Pakistani expatriates decreased from 317,296 to 312,105, and Filipinos from 44,913 to 44,438. Oman Airports has recorded a 2 percent growth in the number of passengers traveling through its airports during June 2025, reaching 1,134,924 passengers, compared to 1,109,745 passengers in the same period last year. India-Oman connectivity Currently, Oman Air flies from Muscat to the Indian cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Thiruvanthapuram. SalamAir flies to Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Jaipur, and Thiruvanthapuram. Among airlines from India, Indigo flies to Hyderabad, Kannur, Kochi, and Mumbai, while Air India Express flies to Chennai, Kannur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangalore, Mumbai, Thiruvanthapuram, and Thiruchirapalli. Recently, speaking to the Observer, Adrian Hamilton-Manns, CEO, SalamAir, said, "We fly to seven destinations in India and we're limited at the moment because of our fleet size. But the desire is very much to increase our footprint in India. It's a massive market that is just going to be ever-growing. So our view is that we can we can more than double our frequency and our presence in this market. Among future options, he added, "there's Nagpur which which comes up. We were looking at Calcutta, Trivandrum, which, of course, you know, we used to serve. We will probably go back into that market as well. So there are about 4 or 5 new cities we'd like to add to India."
Times of Oman
3 days ago
- Times of Oman
Indian users can now pay abroad and on foreign e-commerce sites using UPI via PayPal World
New Delhi: In a major boost to cross-border digital payments, Indian users will now be able to use the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to make payments internationally through PayPal. The global payments company 'PayPal' has announced the launch of "PayPal World", a new platform that aims to connect the world's largest payment systems and digital wallets. The platform will start by offering interoperability between PayPal and Venmo, and include UPI as part of its initial launch. This means Indian consumers can now shop from international merchants and pay using the UPI option they are already familiar with. For example, an Indian user browsing an online store in the United States to buy a pair of sneakers will now see a UPI button after clicking the PayPal option at checkout. This allows them to complete the transaction using their UPI account, just as they would for any domestic payment. Ritesh Shukla, Managing Director and CEO of NPCI International Payments Limited, welcomed the development. He said, "The integration of UPI on PayPal World's platform will mark a significant step in expanding UPI's global footprint. It aligns with our vision to make cross-border payments more seamless, secure, and inclusive. This collaboration will enhance convenience for Indian users making payments abroad and enable global businesses and merchants to tap into a growing base of UPI users." The company stated that collaboration includes global partners representing nearly two billion users worldwide. These include Mercado Pago (MOU signed, further details being scoped), NPCI International Payments Limited (UPI), PayPal, Tenpay Global, and Venmo. The platform also benefits users from other countries. For instance, a PayPal user travelling to China can make payments at a cafe that accepts Weixin Pay simply by scanning the code using their PayPal app. Similarly, a Venmo user in the US can send money to a friend in Germany by typing in the phone number and selecting the PayPal wallet. This step marks a new beginning for global digital payments, especially for Indian users who rely heavily on UPI for everyday transactions. With PayPal World, sending money or shopping across borders will be easier than ever. (ANI)
Muscat Daily
4 days ago
- Muscat Daily
Lingo bingo
If you are an expatriate living in Oman who cannot yet speak basic Arabic, it might be high time to sign up for an easy language learning course. Luckily, Arabic learning centres across Muscat are more than willing to help, to enable expatriates avoid making conversations a 'game of chance' …………………. A heated argument between a local cabbie and an Indian expatriate at Ruwi recently proved quite amusing for a group of onlookers – while the cabbie humbly demanded his legal fare, the expatriate was vocal about being duped and kept insisting on paying him more! Conversations between Omanis and non-Arabic speaking expatriates in Muscat as well as other parts of the sultanate often take a hilarious tone as language barriers pose many a dilemma. While learning Arabic is not mandatory, most expatriates rely on English and Hindi to express themselves – thankfully enough, Omanis willingly oblige without a qualm. The moot issue here is about expatriates not learning to converse in Arabic, though many have stayed on for decades on end. On the other hand, there are one too many language learning centres that offer classes at convenient hours, but witness only a trickle of students. Expatriates like Kaylee Jones, an English translator and student of Noor Majan institute's summer programme, says, 'When I moved to Muscat, many suggested that I learn Arabic if I intended staying for a long time. Now, as I often struggle to strike up conversations with a friendly Omani cop who doesn't speak English, I realise that I should've listened to them a long time ago.' There are scores of expatriates of varied nationalities, like Kaylee, who want to learn the language in a slightly more formal learning environment. Eagerly enrolling themselves to institutions like Noor Majan's Muscat campus, they seek to gain a deeper understanding of the Arabic language. A former alumnus of Noor Majan Arabic Institute, Robert Rodriguez said, 'I learnt Arabic here several years ago to speak the language fluently enough with locals in Oman. As an intelligence officer in the US Army that visits Muscat occasionally, I find it easier to navigate around the city and have managed to gain and maintain close friendships with the people here because of my knowledge of the language and my adoration of the Omani culture.' Shreya Gupta, a current student in the institute's summer programme, said, 'Since I have recently graduated from Georgetown university with a minor in Arabic and Islamic studies, I fell in love with Islamic and Muslim cultures and wanted to expand on this knowledge I have received by learning the language thoroughly this time.' Why expatriates don't learn Arabic This excitement to learn the language, however, doesn't seem to be conveyed by non-Arab locals within the area. As a (part-time) instructor at Noor Majan Arabic Institute, Ahmed al Balushi elaborates, 'We typically get a lot of foreign students who come to Muscat for an internship or a graduate job. For our summer programmes that go on till August, we typically get at least six to ten students per class. I guess a reason for this slow intake is partially because most non-arab speakers do not have the time to commit to our lectures, and partially because most of them simply believe that they can learn bits of it on their own as some words are similar to other languages they speak, like Hindi.' Arabic tutor Fatima al Wahaibi, who conducts Arabic classes online and in-person in the Saud Bhawan Residency 1 building at Al-Khuwair, explains, 'As I'm a private instructor who only charges RO1 per class and conducts classes at timings and venues convenient for people who don't speak Arabic, I tend to get a lot more residents within the area to attend my online and offline classes. So, in my perspective, I think, the biggest factor that affects those who learn to speak Arabic is cost and convenience.' Mahi Chaudhary, a student at Fatima's sessions, confirms this suggestion saying, 'As a housewife who lives next to the Saud Bhawan Residency buildings, I find it easier to attend Ms Fatima's evening classes because of its location. Typically, these classes would comprise me and three other students, all of whom have jobs that prevent them from taking upoing for longer classes that go on throughout the day. But I personally don't mind the smaller structure because of how much more time I get to spend with everyone else as we learn the language together. For me, it's easier for me to learn Arabic here rather than in a bigger and noisier classroom.' Another student of Fatima's in-person session, Omar Sheikh explains the key differences between both the learning formats. 'I used to attend classes offered by the Sultan Qaboos Institute for non-native speakers. However, I found that the classes were too expensive for me and it became too stressful to balance coursework with my office work throughout the day. That's why I prefer learning here. But, I also understand that if I had properly applied myself to those classes, I would have learnt more Arabic than the typical conversational phrases we learn in Ms Fatima's classes.' Despite these differences in class structures and core curriculum, students and staff from both organisations highlight the importance of learning Arabic in a class environment. As a student of Noor Majan Arabic Institute, Nikhil Sharma puts it, 'Everyone has their own style of learning a new language. However, expecting most non-Arabic speakers to learn the language entirely on their own is a bit unrealistic. I think it is important for people planning to work and live here for many years to learn the language. It is equally important to make learning accessible to the general public because it helps us learn and adapt to a new and distinct culture.' (Contributed by: Ishita Shetty)
