More than a week after an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar — with five Trinamool MPs on board — was damaged in a hailstorm, company CEO Pieter Elbers evaded a question on why the plane did not return despite the rough weather.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had said that the pilots were denied permission by both Indian and Pakistani authorities to deviate towards the international border.

When The Telegraph asked why the flight did not turn back despite bad weather, Elbers replied: “This flight and the sequence of events are under investigation. I would rather not comment at this point in time…. Most important for us is that all the passengers are safe and now we are investigating what sequence of events exactly happened.”

He added: “I see a lot of speculation. So I think it is very important that we discuss it knowing what are the exact facts and what was the exact situation. We are doing that and by no means I think it would help to add any speculation from my end.”

Elbers was addressing a news conference before the annual general meeting of
the International Air Transport Association, which IndiGo has been hosting here
since Sunday.

The DGCA has grounded the pilots pending an inquiry. In a statement last week, the aviation regulator had said that the crew initially attempted to turn back, but as they were close to the thunderstorm cloud, they decided to penetrate the weather. The nose of the aircraft was damaged.

Elbers was also questioned whether IndiGo would extend the codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines, and if it had a backup plan to manage without it. He said such arrangements exist under air service agreements between India and Turkey.

Government sources said on Friday evening that IndiGo had been granted a final three-month extension of its lease of two Turkish Airlines aircraft within which they have to terminate the lease.

There have been public calls to boycott Turkey after it backed Pakistan during the recent confrontation with India.