Patna airport bird hit: Air India flight from Delhi lands safely, return flight delayed
Patna airport bird hit: A bird-hit incident involving an Air India flight was reported at Patna Airport on Monday morning. The aircraft, carrying 164 passengers from Delhi, landed safely after the pilot suspected that a bird had struck the aircraft while it was approaching the airport.
Air India flight AI 1741 landed at Patna Airport at around 7.43 am. Airport authorities immediately activated precautionary emergency landing procedures and kept fire and other emergency services on standby.
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According to airport officials, the pilot informed Air Traffic Control (ATC) about a suspected bird strike near the aircraft’s right engine as the flight was nearing the runway. Given the situation, airport authorities followed the emergency landing protocol as a precaution. Fire service personnel and other relevant teams were positioned near the runway before the aircraft touched down.
The flight landed without any reported difficulty.
A post-landing inspection confirmed that the aircraft had indeed been hit by a bird. However, officials said the incident did not cause any damage to the engine.
After the necessary technical checks were completed, the aircraft was cleared to operate its return journey to Delhi.
The return flight, AI 1852, was scheduled to depart with 160 passengers at 8.45 am. However, following the inspection and required procedures, the flight eventually took off at 10.09 am, resulting in a delay of around 79 minutes.
The latest incident comes just days after another Air India flight operating between Delhi and Patna was hit by a bird on August 17.
That incident was more serious, with the aircraft sustaining damage that kept it grounded for two days. Engineers had to be flown in from Delhi to carry out the required repairs before the aircraft could return to service.
- With inputs from agencies
