Smog from bursting crackers delays 23 flights

While the poor visibility because of smoke during Bhogi festival in January is common, causing disturbance in operation of flights, this is first time that bursting of fire crackers has led to such a menace. 

Many flights, that were scheduled to take off after 10 pm on Wednesday, were delayed as the long-distance visibility was poor due to smog from bursting firecrackers. 

A Go Air flight, carrying 148 passengers from Hyderabad, could not land in Chennai around 10.30 pm, as the pilot was unable to locate the runway. After circling in the air for a while, the flight was diverted to Bengaluru. 

Similarly, several international flights from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Bangkok, Hong Kong were diverted to Delhi, Mumbai, Goa,Tiruchy and Madurai airports. 

In all, the operation of 23 flights were affected on Wednesday. Only post midnight, the smog started clearing and after 2 am, flights were operated as usual once the runway became clear. When contacted, AAI sources said that the smoke was unexpected as people living around the airport burst crackers on Deepavali. 

Not just airplanes, even motorists had a tough time on Wednesday, as there was no visibility beyond five feet on many locations in the city.