Bird hits ground flights in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: Bird hits have grounded four flights in the last three days in Coimbatore Airport affecting flight operations in the region. According to airport authorities, two flights each of Spice Jet and Air India were hit by tiny sparrows since Tuesday night.
The unexpected groundings have affected normal flight operations resulting in severe inconvenience to air passengers. The flights sustained no damage as the hits were not severe. Each flight resumed the onward journey after spending about one hour at the airport to check damages if any.
The airport authorities have constituted an expert committee to ascertain the reason behind the repeated bird hits. Surveillance jeeps are being used to chase away birds about three minutes before the landing and taking off of each flight. The officials have also decided to meet the Coimbatore district collector very soon asking him to take urgent steps to prevent dumping of garbage close to the western wall of the airport. The dumping of garbage there too is causing the high presence of birds in the region resulting in bird hits.
30/10/10 K A Shaji/Times of India

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Categories: Air India Domestic Oct 2010, airports Oct 2010, NACIL Oct 2010, Safety Oct 2010, SpiceJet Oct 2010