A group of Cummins Inc. employees flying in a shuttle corporate jet from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, to Columbus were thanking their three-person aviation crew after heavy fog caused the plane to divert to Indianapolis.
Although the plane was scheduled to land at Columbus, the pilots elected to change route and land in Indianapolis after dense fog covered the Bartholomew County area Monday night.
In an email, the employees, who had been at a Cummins manufacturing facility in Rocky Mount, said they wanted the pilot to know how grateful they were that he made the right choice to divert to Indianapolis.
Brian Payne, Columbus Municipal Airport director, said the Columbus airport has an automated weather observation system that pilots may access even before taking off and heading to Columbus, which is usually done.
“Pilots make their own call on whether to divert,” he said, adding that no specific fog warnings or advisories had been issued by the local airport itself on Monday night.
The pilot probably chose to divert because Indianapolis International Airport has a more sophisticated and advanced instrument landing system when compared to Columbus, which would be helpful in foggy conditions, Payne said.
“It’s a common scenario for a pilot to divert to Indianapolis,” he said. “It’s probably likely he knew before they took off that they would be going to Indianapolis.”
Planes, including corporate jets, were taking off from the Columbus airport Tuesday morning, although Payne said the conditions were even a little questionable then. But airport operations were normal Tuesday, he said.
