Srinagar: At about 10.25 am, minutes after a government-owned Air India aircraft flight number AI 825 took-off on Sunday from Delhi to Srinagar, 180 passengers on-board had a narrow escape after a bird struck the aircraft’s engine forcing an emergency landing.
Several passengers in the flight who spoke to Greater Kashmir said a loud bang followed by massive turbulence for about 15 minutes caused panic among the passengers. Greater Kashmir had earlier published a news story on March 25 on how bird hits affect the airworthiness of an aircraft.
A Srinagar-based doctor who was on board the bird struck Air India flight along with her three-year-old daughter said she is “still in disbelief how a visit to my brother in Delhi would become such as horrifying experience.”
“I was not bothered about myself but for my daughter. It was a normal take-off but in minutes there was a loud sound. It felt like a cylinder blast which resulted in huge turbulence,” she said adding that the flight took-off as per schedule at 10:25 am but within minutes panic gripped the entire aircraft. “Even the cabin crew had to be seated. The massive turbulence made my daughter to vomit a couple of times. Almost 25 minutes after the loud bang, the captain informed us that it was an engine problem,” she said.
A Srinagar-based Air India employee, who incidentally was returning from a training programme from Delhi in the same flight, said it was confirmed to him by the senior officials of Air India that the “technical snag” was actually a result of a bird strike. He said it took a lot of effort from the cabin crew and pilots to pacify the panic-struck passengers.
“We were all quite panicked but the situation was brought under control to a certain extent after announcement of emergency landing. I hope there are more efforts on all airports to address the issue of bird hits,” the AI employee said adding that after the emergency landing at Delhi airport, passengers were made to board another aircraft which landed in Srinagar at 12.30pm.
Aviation experts expressed concern over the bird-hit incident and said although a bird strike usually doesn’t cause a plane to crash but multiple bird hits can result in a serious accident and dent a plane’s airworthiness. In order to keep the birds away, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clearly stipulates that an airport should possess a “Bird Scaring Provision.” This includes the use of a gun or fire-crackers to shoo away the birds which could disrupt aircraft landing and take-off.
30/04/18 Saqib Malik/Greater Kashmir
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Several passengers in the flight who spoke to Greater Kashmir said a loud bang followed by massive turbulence for about 15 minutes caused panic among the passengers. Greater Kashmir had earlier published a news story on March 25 on how bird hits affect the airworthiness of an aircraft.
A Srinagar-based doctor who was on board the bird struck Air India flight along with her three-year-old daughter said she is “still in disbelief how a visit to my brother in Delhi would become such as horrifying experience.”
“I was not bothered about myself but for my daughter. It was a normal take-off but in minutes there was a loud sound. It felt like a cylinder blast which resulted in huge turbulence,” she said adding that the flight took-off as per schedule at 10:25 am but within minutes panic gripped the entire aircraft. “Even the cabin crew had to be seated. The massive turbulence made my daughter to vomit a couple of times. Almost 25 minutes after the loud bang, the captain informed us that it was an engine problem,” she said.
A Srinagar-based Air India employee, who incidentally was returning from a training programme from Delhi in the same flight, said it was confirmed to him by the senior officials of Air India that the “technical snag” was actually a result of a bird strike. He said it took a lot of effort from the cabin crew and pilots to pacify the panic-struck passengers.
“We were all quite panicked but the situation was brought under control to a certain extent after announcement of emergency landing. I hope there are more efforts on all airports to address the issue of bird hits,” the AI employee said adding that after the emergency landing at Delhi airport, passengers were made to board another aircraft which landed in Srinagar at 12.30pm.
Aviation experts expressed concern over the bird-hit incident and said although a bird strike usually doesn’t cause a plane to crash but multiple bird hits can result in a serious accident and dent a plane’s airworthiness. In order to keep the birds away, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clearly stipulates that an airport should possess a “Bird Scaring Provision.” This includes the use of a gun or fire-crackers to shoo away the birds which could disrupt aircraft landing and take-off.
30/04/18 Saqib Malik/Greater Kashmir
0 comments:
Post a Comment