Air India Flight in Pakistan Airspace: What Happened, How, and What Has Been Done
Air India Flight in Pakistan airspace: Air India flight AI479 from Delhi to Amritsar briefly crossed into Pakistani airspace on June 22 during a go-around at Amritsar airport. North Desk explains what happened, why it matters, and what DGCA has done.
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, June 25
Q: Which flight was involved and when did it happen?
Air India Flight in Pakistan airspace: The flight was Air India AI479, operating from Delhi to Amritsar on June 22. The aircraft involved was an Airbus A321 with registration VT-PPV. The incident occurred at a little past 8 pm on Monday night.
Q: What exactly happened?
A chain of events — not a single mistake — led to the airspace breach. The aircraft was approaching Amritsar when air traffic control directed it to remain in a holding pattern because a runway inspection was underway following a bird-strike incident. Early information indicates that the aircraft was asked by ATC to remain in a holding pattern over 13 DME (Distance Measuring Equipment). Instead, it proceeded towards AAR, turned left, and inadvertently crossed the International Border, resulting in a brief entry into Pakistani airspace. The aircraft reportedly could not follow the controller’s instructions during the manoeuvre.
Q: How far into Pakistani airspace did the plane go, and for how long?
Air India Flight in Pakistan airspace: Flight tracking data showed that the aircraft marginally crossed the international border near Attari and remained inside Pakistani airspace for less than two minutes before returning to Indian airspace. The Amritsar airport director had earlier told reporters that the flight did not go beyond one-and-a-half miles into Pakistani territory.
Q: How was the breach detected — and what did Pakistan do?
The incident quickly came to the attention of Pakistan’s air traffic control authorities. Pakistani ATC reportedly contacted its Indian counterpart and informed them about the deviation. The event was coordinated with Pakistan ATC Authorities, the DGCA confirmed. The aircraft finally diverted to Delhi and safely landed there.
Q: Why does this matter — wasn’t it just a minor drift?
Air India Flight in Pakistan airspace: Context is everything here. Pakistan has closed its airspace for Indian airlines since April 2025. The restrictions were first imposed a day after terrorists killed 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, leading to a standoff between the two nuclear-armed countries, which culminated in a four-day military conflict. On June 17, Pakistan extended its airspace restrictions on Indian-registered aircraft for yet another month till July 24. An Indian commercial aircraft crossing into Pakistani airspace — however briefly — during an active mutual airspace ban is not a routine navigational error. It is a diplomatic and regulatory incident.
Q: What happened to the passengers?
As congestion persisted, the crew decided to divert the flight to its alternate airport, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The aircraft landed safely in Delhi, refuelled, and later resumed its journey to Amritsar the same evening. Almost an hour after returning to the national capital, the aircraft again took off for Amritsar and landed there after 10 pm. Passengers faced a delay of approximately four hours. The number of passengers on board has not been officially disclosed.
Q: What action has been taken?
Air India Flight in Pakistan airspace: The DGCA noted that temporary measures were applied to both the Amritsar air traffic controller involved and the flight personnel, due to their failure to notify the event via official procedures. Crucially, the action is specifically for non-reporting of the incident — not merely for the airspace breach itself. DGCA has not publicly specified the exact nature of the interim action — whether it amounts to suspension, grounding, or administrative proceedings. Air India said the incident has been reported to the regulatory authorities and is being investigated internally.
Q: Was there a similar incident on the Pakistani side recently?
Yes — and this detail has largely gone unreported in India. Just days before the Air India incident, on June 12, a Pakistani aircraft — Fly Jinnah flight 9P514, operating from Lahore to Dubai — briefly crossed into Indian airspace over Punjab while deviating from its route. Both incidents, viewed together, reflect the heightened navigational risk created by mutual airspace bans that push flight paths uncomfortably close to contested borders.
Q: What happens next?
The DGCA investigation is ongoing. The key questions that remain unanswered are: why the crew could not follow ATC holding instructions during the go-around; whether the bird-strike-related runway inspection — which set off the entire chain of events — was adequately communicated to the flight crew; and what the exact interim action against the ATC officer and crew entails. A full accident investigation report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) may follow.
Follow North Desk on WhatsApp for the latest from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb7ccdxJENy2H87DBG3E
