A Fly91 flight from Hyderabad to Hubballi was diverted to Bengaluru on Sunday after adverse weather conditions prevented landing at Hubballi airport, officials said. The aircraft remained airborne for several hours, triggering panic among passengers, some of whom were seen praying and in tears.

The Fly91 Airlines flight IC3401, an ATR turboprop aircraft, departed Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at around 3 pm and was scheduled to land in Hubballi at about 4:30 pm. However, as the flight approached Hubballi, poor weather conditions forced the pilots to abort landing attempts.

“Due to bad weather, the flight from Hyderabad to Hubballi was diverted to Bengaluru,” an airport official said, adding that such diversions are a standard safety measure.

According to officials, the aircraft hovered over Hubballi for nearly an hour while the crew waited for weather conditions to improve before taking the decision to divert.

“This is general practice. Aircraft circle in the air for some time waiting for the weather to improve. It is the pilot’s decision,” he said.

The flight later landed safely at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru at around 6:30 pm. It was subsequently flown back to Hubballi at about 11 pm after weather conditions improved.

Sources said there were 22 passengers on board the aircraft. Officials stressed that all passengers were safe.

“All passengers are safe. There is no issue,” the official said.

Passengers, however, described the experience as traumatic. Jai Kumar, one of those onboard, said, "It was a truly terrible experience. I have traveled many times, but this is the first time I've been left speechless. We were in such a state of panic that it’s hard to recover. It’s not that we are complaining about the flight itself; our pilot handled the situation very well. He really did."

Recalling the relief after landing, he added, "When we finally landed in Bengaluru, we were so happy. We finally felt safe. We had panicked for so long on that flight. We were supposed to land at 4:10 PM, but the panic lasted until 6:30 PM. It was indescribable."

Officials also noted that weather-related disruptions affected other flights in the region, with a Mumbai-Kolhapur service reportedly diverted to Goa.