It wasn’t smooth sailing for Kate Middleton and Prince William on their attempted journey to Islamabad on the fourth day of their royal tour of Pakistan.
The royal couple’s Air Force plane had to turn around and make an emergency landing back in Lahore after two failed attempts to safely land during a storm. The flight was supposed to be a 25-minute journey but according to reports, the RAF Voyager was in the air for more than two hours in the midst of all the thunder and lightning.
The Duke and Duchess are both fine according to multiple reports but based on personal accounts from reporters onboard the flight it sounds like it was a scary situation.
Rebecca English, a reporter for the DailyMail was traveling with the royal couple on the flight posted a video of lightening and wrote that Prince William even joked that he was flying.
A mid-air drama for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – and the entire press pack – as storms force our RAF Voyager to twice abandon landing in Islamabad and return to #Lahore The pilot circled for an hour but the lightening – and turbulence – was so bad we had to fly back. pic.twitter.com/mvTRVfHhiW
— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) October 17, 2019
Another reporter from People magazine was onboard the flight and tweeted about the terrifying experience writing, “Phew. Landed! But in Lahore. A terrifying electrical storm hit as we tried to land at Islamabad. Lightning seemed to be crashing around the right-wing. Despite the best efforts of the pilot of William and Kate’s RAF Voyager plane we couldn’t land there.”
Phew. Landed! But in Lahore. A terrifying electrical storm hit as we tried to land at Islamabad. Lightning seemed to be crashing around the right wing. Despite the best efforts of the pilot of William and Kate’s RAF Voyager plane we couldn’t couldn’t land there.
— Simon Perry (@SPerryPeoplemag) October 17, 2019
Rav Vadgama, who was also on the flight detailed the ordeal tweeting, “Pilot had tried to cut through the storm clouds to land after the 25 minute flight from Lahore to Islamabad, but made the decision to abort on safety grounds. Glad to be back on the ground in Lahore, and the Prince very kindly popped back to check on us all!” He also added that after the plane is being refueled they are hopeful that they will continue to Islamabad.
Voyager now being refuelled. Hopefully ready to go back tonight , weather permitting. #royalvisitpakistan pic.twitter.com/KEcS3uOo8X
— 𝚁𝚊𝚟 𝚅𝚊𝚍𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚊 (@TVRav) October 17, 2019
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been traveling throughout Pakistan on their royal tour of the country on the British Government’s Royal Air Force official aircraft. The couple safely landed in Islamabad on Monday evening at Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan, Rawalpindi, before flying to Chitral on Wednesday.
