Rare  Mix up by Airlines results flight landing at a different airport

Passengers bound for Nepal’s Janakpur were in for a surprise after they ended up in Pokhara, 255 kilometres away from the actual destination, after a rare flight mix-up by a leading private carrier, according to media reports.

The incident happened on Friday to 69 passengers travelling on Buddha Air, The Kathmandu Post reported.

The weather was not quite favourable for the flights on Friday so carriers were making use of every available weather window to take the passengers on board as quickly as possible and take off, the report said.

Buddha Air’s flight U4505 was cleared to take off for Janakpur airport in the plains. Passengers were taken in and the plane took off, with its estimated arrival time at Janakpur by 3:15 pm.

When it took off, it had already been delayed. But when it landed, it actually landed in Pokhara instead of the destination airport.

According to the preliminary report, due to weather issues, flights to Pokhara were permitted until 3 pm under the visual flight rules (VFR).

The VFR is a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going.

“The weather was already causing flight delays and to make up for the flying time, Buddha Air officials decided to fly to Pokhara first,” said an official at the airline company.

Accordingly, the flight number was changed and the mix-up happened.

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