An Air Asia flight to Bagdogra from here with 171 passengers including West Bengal minister Arup Biswas was forced to return shortly after takeoff due to a thunderstorm on Tuesday evening, airport sources said.
Flight I5536 took off at 4 pm from the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport but returned around 20 minutes later, sources said.
The pilot contacted the ATC and was granted permission to land with standard emergency measures in place, they added.
"We were scared as the plane was suddenly caught in the storm... But everything went off well afterwards," Biswas said.
The flight arrived in Bagdogra later in the evening.