CHENNAI: Poor visibility caused by smoke from firecrackers burst during Diwali celebrations led to a Chennai-bound IndiGo flight from Raipur being diverted to Bengaluru on Sunday night.IndiGo flight 6E2002, operating from Raipur to Chennai, was scheduled to arrive at Chennai airport at 10.45pm.However, the aircraft, with 78 passengers on board, was diverted to Bengaluru at 11.15pm after the pilot found that the runway visibility was below the required minimum for landing.Chennai airport authorities said visibility at the time was around 900 metres, against the minimum runway visual range (RVR) requirement of 950 metres for landing on runway 07. The decision to divert the flight was taken by the pilot.The aircraft, bearing registration number VT-ILJ, subsequently returned to Chennai and arrived at 1.54am.Airport officials said other flights were able to take off and land around the same time, as visibility conditions improved within a few minutes.The diversion was a precautionary decision taken by the pilot based on the prevailing visibility conditions at the time of approach, said airport authorities.
