The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun a preliminary investigation into the severe turbulence episode on a Srinagar-bound IndiGo flight that took place on Wednesday evening, officials said on Thursday.

The airline has submitted its report to the regulator, the officials said.

“The turbulence experienced by 6E 2142 is massive and is being probed by the DGCA,” officials cited above said on condition of anonymity. “The airline has submitted the incident report to the regulator after which preliminary investigations are on-going.”

The Srinagar-bound IndiGo flight encountered severe turbulence after take off from Delhi’s IGI airport at around 4.55pm, and landed in Srinagar at approximately 6.25pm.

While IndiGo spokesperson did not comment on the investigations, a statement from the budget carrier on Thursday said, “IndiGo flight 6E 2142 from Delhi to Srinagar on May 21, 2025 navigated a sudden hailstorm and landed safely at Srinagar International Airport. All customers were attended to upon landing and no injuries were reported.”

“The aircraft is currently undergoing necessary inspection and maintenance in Srinagar and will resume operations once all clearances have been secured. We sincerely thank our customers for their cooperation in ensuring the safe completion of this flight. As always, the safety of our customers and crew remains our highest priority,” the statement said.

According to Flightradar24, a live flight tracking website, the aircraft registered as VT-IBJ, overflew Pathankot, that is very close to Lahore airspace before it could descend to land at its scheduled destination.

The flight with 220 people on board, however, landed safely after which the aircraft was grounded.

Meanwhile, news agency PTI quoted unnamed sources as saying that the pilot operating the Delhi-Srinagar flight initially sought Lahore Air Traffic Control’s permission to briefly use the Pakistan airspace to avoid the turbulence, but the request was rejected. HT could not verify the authenticity of the report.