Birds ground flight, DIAL denies

New Delhi: A second flight in less than a month had to be grounded during take-off following a reported bird-hit at IGI Airport, though DIAL, the private company sprucing up the airport, remained in a denial mode.
The incident took place at 9.30 am Thursday, when captain of the Hyderabad-bound Kingfisher flight IT802 reported seeing a flock of kites in front of the aircraft. The flight, with 108 passengers on board, was rolling in for take-off at the time. Within seconds, one kite hit the aircraft engine and the plane jerked to a stop.
No one was reported injured but officials said increased “bird activity” thereafter stalled operations on main runway for 20 minutes till 10.05 am.
On June 14, a Kingfisher flight carrying Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was aborted following a bird-hit.
DIAL corporate communication official Arun Arora, however, said: “No bird remains or bloodstains were found during mechanical inspection of the aircraft. The pilot suspected a bird-hit and decided to abandon take-off as a safety measure.”
Kingfisher, though, stuck to its stand: that a bird-hit grounded the plane, left the engine damaged and tyres deflated. “DIAL does not own our aircraft,” a senior Kingfisher official said. “Our mechanical inspection proves the engine was damaged by bird-hit. Our captain had also reported seeing a flock of kites.”
“We arranged a different aircraft for the passengers. A bird-hit aircraft remains out of commission for a couple of days,” Kingfisher spokesperson Prakash Mirpuri said. The substitute flight took off at 11.06 am.
06/07/08 Sobhana K/Expressindia.com

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Categories: Airports Jul 2008, Kingfisher Jul 2008, Safety Jul 2008