Forced to return twice on 2 days, Air India Express flight circles above Lucknow Airport 28 times; spends 3 hours in air due to dense fog

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An Air India Express flight from Delhi was unable to land at the Lucknow Airport on two different days, due to dense fod conditions prevailing in the city.

The flight - IX2171 - faced a disruption on January 2 and then again on January 4 amid extremely poor visibility, The Times of India reported, adding that over the two days, the airplane circled above the Lucknow Airport 28 times and spent nearly three hours in the air before it was forced to return to Delhi.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 had left the Delhi Airport on January 4 at 5:51 am and reached Lucknow at 6:42 am. However, with runway visibility at just 125 metres, the flight could not land. For the uninitiated, this is below the required visibility for a safe landing.

TOI further reported that in hopes that the fog would clear out, the pilot kept the aircraft in a holding position and the aircraft made repeated circular movements above the airport for about 78 minutes. However, it returned to Delhi when the conditions did not improve. It landed in Delhi at around 8:55 am.

On January 2, the same Air India Express flight left Delhi at 5:24 am and reached Lucknow shortly after 6:15 am. The airplane was in the air for about 90 minutes and looped Lucknow 17 times before returning to the national capital. It landed back in Delhi at around 8:56 am.