Chandigarh: Air India Delhi-Kabul AI Aviation 243 last week – among the last scheduled commercial services to Kabul airport before the city falls to the Taliban – filled with the silence of radio on the approach.
It was issued by Captain Aditya Chopra and Ashutosh Ahlawat, Airbus A320 with 40 passengers on the boat continued to float around the city which was surrounded while waiting for permission to land from air traffic control (ATC).
A Boeing 777 emirate from Dubai also holds 28,000 feet near Kabul around the same time.
It returned to the UAE without landing in Kabul.
The source said the crew on board was not aware of the events that took place on the ground.
“When the plane holds Kabul, ATC stops responding.
It was not before more than an hour that the crew was given to land,” said the source.
“Maybe there was no air traffic controller in Kabul ATC at that time.
The pilot did not know what to do and where to go.
Because the Kabul approach was busy, they had to be aware of other aircraft amid the silence of ATC radio,” said the source.
Ai 243 finally landed in Kabul after 2 hours and 13 minutes at 15:33 (local kabul time).
A free flight event only takes less than an hour.
The Indian commercial pilot association, Indian Erstan Indian Pilot Airlines Association, has praised the crew operating AI 243/244 last week.
“We salute our Indian water dedication from AI 243 (Captain Aditya Chopra and Ashutosh Ahlawat), which goes beyond the task line, in the midst of tension and chaos to bring our citizens to return safely from Kabul.
Jai Hind,” Tweeted.
The 162-seater A320 was fully booked on a flight back to Delhi as AI 244.
But only 129 passengers managed to reach the airport.
This might be the last scheduled flight from Kabul.
AI is the only Indian operator with scheduled flights to Kabul.
The next day, non-defense aircraft was banned from Afghan airspace.