Qatar flight lands in controversy

New Delhi: In what could be the first major case of bird hit this year, a Qatar Airways flight made a full scale emergency at IGI airport on Wednesday morning minutes after take off. One of the Airbus' engines developed a major snag.
The flight with 199 passengers and 12 crew members had taken off at 9.30 am for Doha and soon after, "one of the engines ingested birds,"said the airline in a statement issued from Doha. The pilot then shut down the affected engine and returned to make an emergency landing. As soon as the pilot informed the Air Traffic Control about the problem, the flight was given priority for landing and all emergency moves, like placing fire tenders and ambulances near the runway, were made.
However, senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials at IGI refuted the airline's claim and suggested that it could be passing the blame of a faulty engine on birds. "No bird was found at the airport. There has been no such instance so far this year,"said the official.
05/04/06 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India