IndiGo Flight Struck by Lightning at 17,000 Feet Makes Safe Emergency Landing in Lucknow. An IndiGo domestic flight carrying 104 passengers and six crew members sustained severe structural damage to its nose section after being struck by lightning at an altitude of approximately 17,000 feet. The aircraft, operating Flight 6E 625 between Patna and Lucknow in India, encountered severe weather conditions and a heavy hailstorm during its cruise and descent phases. Despite the mid-air impact and turbulence, the flight crew maintained control of the aircraft and landed safely at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, arriving eight minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival time.
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The mid-air lightning strike damaged the aircraft’s radome—the composite protective cone covering the weather radar system at the front of the fuselage. Inspection photos following the landing revealed significant indentations and structural compromise to the nose module caused by the electrical discharge and hail impact. Despite the alarm inside the passenger cabin, all 110 occupants on board escaped unharmed, and airport emergency crews facilitated an orderly disembarkation upon reaching the terminal gate.
Following the landing, IndiGo officially grounded the affected aircraft to perform structural assessments and comprehensive engineering repairs. The airline immediately reported the safety incident to India‘s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which has launched a formal investigation into the sequence of events, weather dispatch conditions, and structural damage sustained during the flight. The aircraft will remain out of commercial service until cleared by regulatory authorities.
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This incident marks the second weather-related operational occurrence for IndiGo in recent weeks. During the previous month, an IndiGo Airbus operating Flight 6E 6542 from Guwahati to Bengaluru experienced a tail strike while landing amidst strong crosswinds and turbulent weather at Kempegowda International Airport. That aircraft was similarly grounded for technical inspections and structural evaluation, highlighting the operational challenges posed by severe monsoon weather conditions across the Indian subcontinent.
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