Flight ops brave lightnings & rain

Kolkata: Thursday’s thundershower caused visible disruption around Kolkata airport, slowing road traffic and briefly affecting apron activity, but it did not bring flight operations to a halt.

Despite intense rain and frequent lightning, arrivals and departures continued through the afternoon, with delays largely restricted to less than 15 minutes.Airport teams remained alert because of the previous week’s incident, when lightning struck an aircraft parked on the ground, tripped its auxiliary power unit and triggered a blackout inside the cabin. Two ground staff on the tarmac collapsed then, requiring hospital attention before being discharged after first aid; passengers were later shifted to another aircraft.

On Thursday, however, no aircraft was hit, reducing the risk of similar operational complications.The airport’s CAT-III instrument landing system played a crucial role, allowing pilots and air traffic controllers to maintain safe movements even when visibility and rainfall conditions deteriorated. Ground handling may have proceeded with added caution during lightning activity, but essential services remained functional. As a result, the weather produced inconvenience rather than serious disruption, demonstrating that preparedness, equipment capability and coordinated response helped keep the airport running during the thundershower.

Passenger schedules were affected only marginally, with normal flow gradually restored later.