IndiGo's Mumbai-bound flight reports 'engine stall warning' mid-air after bigger jet creates 'wake turbulence'

Mumbai: An IndiGo plane flying at roughly 36,000 feet reported momentary 'engine stall warning' after a bigger jet flew close to it in the opposite direction creating 'wake turbulence', said sources on Tuesday. No injuries were reported in the incident and the plane landed safely in Mumbai.

According to reports, IndiGo flight 6E-6812 -- an Airbus A320 -- was flying from Guwahati to Mumbai when the captain noticed an Engine 1 stall warning signal that quickly vanished. It happened due to a bigger jet of Boeing 777 aircraft passing in the opposite direction of IndiGo's A320 aircraft creating 'Wake Turbulence' mid-air.

Soon after witnessing wake turbulence, the IndiGo's aircraft cruised normally to its destination without any difficulty.

It should be noted that the IndiGo flight took off as per schedule from Guwahati airport at around 6:32 am in the morning. There was no delay in the take off.

The airline has reported the incident to India's aviation regulatory body, Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA), about the incident and there was no damage to the plane and passengers.

According to the Federation Aviation Administration (FAA), the largest US-based transportation agency, "A wake turbulence encounter can range from negligible to catastrophic. The impact of the encounter depends on the weight, wingspan, size of the originated aircraft, distance from the originated aircraft, and point of vortex encounter."

30/08/22 Times Now

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Show clearances to buildings around Navi Mumbai airport are illegal: HC to petitioner

The Bombay High Court on Monday was informed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) that it has received 123 applications seeking No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for construction of buildings above permissible height restriction of 55.1 metres within 20 kilometre radius of proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport. As many as 104 of them were cleared while 19 were pending approval, it added.

The AAI had, last month, decided to relax the height restrictions for construction of buildings near the Navi Mumbai airport from 55.1 metres to 160 metres.

The court raised concerns about high-rises coming up even before the airport is ready and said that if this continues, authorities will have to find out how the airport can be accommodated within the structures around.

“What is amusing to us is that the airport is yet to come up, but buildings are coming up first. Ideally, the airport should come up first. Here, you have to check how airport can be accommodated. That is amusing to us. Even before the airport has come up, you (authorities) want to have all constructions done. If you make it so tight, does it not raise concerns? Development is needed but not at the risk of people,” the bench orally remarked.

The bench also asked the petitioner, who in his PIL raised concerns over structures around airports posing a threat to the take-off and landing of flights, to specify the laws under which it can question AAI’s decision to clear the constructions above permissible height of 55.1 metres and approval by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the planning authority in Navi Mumbai, which gave permissions for such constructions.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand S Karnik on August 25, while hearing PIL filed by advocate Yeshwanth Shenoy in 2019, asked the AAI if it had relaxed height restriction norms.

The petitioner said several structures were constructed in violation of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Height Restrictions for Safeguarding of Aircraft Operations) Rules, 2015. The petitioner referred to a July 30 press note by CIDCO and said the authority amended the norms to grant no-objection to construction of buildings within a 20-kilometre radius of the airport as it raised the height limit from 55.1 metres to 160 metres above mean sea level (AMSL).

On Monday, AAI submitted an affidavit stating that 2015 rules permit construction of buildings above 55.1 metres within 20 kilometre radius of the airport.

30/08/22 Indian Express

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IndiGo flight reports engine stall warning mid-air after big jet crosses in opposite direction

In a rare occurrence, an Airbus A320 operated by IndiGo was flying over the Guwahati to Mumbai route on Monday at roughly 36,000 feet when the captain noticed an Engine 1 stall warning signal that quickly vanished.

"IndiGo flight 6E-6812 witnessed an engine 1 stall warning signal for a moment due to a bigger jet of Boeing 777 aircraft passing in the opposite direction of IndiGo's A320 aircraft which creates 'Wake Turbulence' mid-air," an official told ANI.

Soon after witnessing wake turbulence by Emirates Boeing's (B-777) big plane, the IndiGo's aircraft was cruising generally to its destination without any difficulty.

The Mumbai-bound IndiGo plane took off as per schedule from Guwahati airport at around 6:32 am in the morning.

According to sources, the 'wake turbulence' arose due to the large jet aircraft crossing in the opposite direction of the Indigo aircraft.

According to the Federation Aviation Administration (FAA), the largest US-based transportation agency, it is clearly mentioned that sometimes the wake turbulence can be negligible or sometimes it can be disastrous.

"A wake turbulence encounter can range from negligible to catastrophic. The impact of the encounter depends on the weight, wingspan, size of the originated aircraft, distance from the originated aircraft, and point of vortex encounter," FAA said on wake turbulence.

In addition, during FAA wake turbulence, pilots are always prepared for turbulence in the sky and the role of the pilot is very important in dealing with the conditions at that time.

30/08/22 ANI/Khaleej Times

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SpiceJet Delhi-Mumbai Flight's Tyre Bursts on Landing

The Delhi-Mumbai SpiceJet SG-8701 flight witnessed a tyre burst on landing in Mumbai in the morning. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft departed from Delhi at around 7.30 am while landing on the main runway 27 at the Mumbai airport around 9 am.

“The main runway had to be shut down for inspection after the incident. Two arrival flights were forced to carry out a go-around," said a source to Times of India. Reportedly, all the passengers were disembarked safely from the aircraft in Mumbai.

A SpiceJet spokesperson said: “The aircraft landed safely on runway 27. On landing, after vacating the runway, one tyre was found deflated. No fumes or smoke was reported. Aircraft was parked at the designated bay as advised by the air traffic control. No abnormality was felt by the captain during landing. Passengers disembarked normally."

Meanwhile, in other news, Irish lessor Horizon Aviation has requested Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister two more B737 aircrafts leased to SpiceJet. Both these aircrafts are presently stationed in New Delhi. The airline is currently facing cash crunch and this is the third such instance in which the regulator has received deregistration requests of aircrafts in the past few weeks leased to SpiceJet.

29/08/22 News18

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SpiceJet Durgapur incident: DGCA suspends pilot's licence for 6 months

Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended the licence of a SpiceJet pilot for six months following an incident where the airline's flight from Mumbai to Durgapur had faced severe turbulence and resulted in injuries to many passengers in May.

In the incident that happened on May 1, as many as 14 passengers and 3 cabin crew members were injured.

A senior DGCA official on Saturday said the licence of the pilot-in-command of the flight has been suspended for six months due to various violations.

Among others, the pilot could have dealt with the bad weather situation in a better manner, the official said.

There were no comments on the issue from SpiceJet.

Since it was a serious incident, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was probing the matter.

As many as 195 people, including 2 pilots and 4 cabin crew members were onboard the flight.

Earlier, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had said the 14 passengers and 3 cabin crew members suffered injuries related to head, spine, shoulder, forehead and face.

20/08/22 PTI/Business Standard

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Delhi HC issues notice on plea challenging notification allowing Sikhs to carry Kirpans on flights

New Delhi [India], August 18 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Central Government and others on a plea challenging the notification allowing Sikhs to carry Kirpan on board any civilian flights in India.

This notification said that Sikhs shall have exceptional regulatory sanction to carry Kirpan in person whilst on board any civilian flight that is operating in India.

The notification was issued on March 4, 2022, by the Director General, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Government of India.

The division bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the Central Government and other respondents on the petition moved by lawyer-petitioner Harsh Vibhore Singhal. The matter has been listed on December 15, 2022, for further hearing.

The petition has stated that it was notified that “A Kirpan may be carried only by a Sikh passenger, on his person, provided the length of its blade does not exceed 6 inches and total length of Kirpan does not exceed 9 inches. It is allowed while travelling by air on Indian aircraft within India only.

It is also stated that it was notified that this exception shall be for Sikh passengers only and no stakeholders or its employees at any airport (including Sikhs) and working in any terminal, domestic or international, shall be allowed to carry Kirpan.

“By means of a corrigendum of March 12, 2022, to the impugned notification the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security rescinded this bar thereby giving regulatory permission to Sikhs to carry Kirpans on their person while working at any domestic or international airport terminal in India.

The petition has sought a direction to declare the said Corrigendum as ultra vires.

It is perplexing and bewildering how the preamble to the impugned notification can aver that carriage of Kirpans inside the aircraft is for purpose of safety of passengers, crew, aircraft, ground personnel and the general public in all matters related to safeguarding against acts of unlawful interference with civil aviation, the petition said.

It is also said that such a statement of the object is ludicrous since the carriage of Kirpans in a civilian aircraft has dangerous ramifications for aviation safety.

If Kirpans are deemed safe only because of religion, one wonders how knitting/crochet needles, coconut, screwdrivers and small pen knives etc. are deemed hazardous and prohibited, the petition read.

It is also stated that the exception is not only for Indian citizens.

The impugned notification does not distinguish applicability to Sikh Indian citizens and Sikhs from other nations can carry Kirpans in person whilst travelling in any Indian plane on domestic routes in India though the laws of their respective countries may prohibit carrying of Kirpans in civilian flights there.

18/08/22 ANI/Print

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DGCA fines Rs 5 lakhs each on five helicopter operators in Kedarnath, officials suspended

New Delhi: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on five helicopter operators carrying passengers in Kedarnath Dham.

“The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed this fine for flight disturbances. Along with this, the DGCA has suspended the officials of two other operators for three months for violation of safety rules,” DGCA official told ANI.

These irregularities came to light when it was decided to conduct an audit in June. In fact, on May 31, a helicopter carrying pilgrims to a high altitude had a hard landing and after that, the regulators formed a team and an audit took place.

“The Director General of Civil Aviation had constituted a team to conduct spot checks of helicopters involved in shuttle operations in Kedarnath. On June 7 and 8, the team did spot checks which revealed serious violations. After this it was decided to conduct a detailed audit of all the operators involved in Shuttle operations,” an official told ANI.

According to DGCA investigations, a massive incident occurred on May 31, a helicopter of Thumby Aviation Pvt Ltd went out of control while landing at the Kedarnath helipad and had spun up to 270 degrees. After that, the pilot made a very hard landing. Investigations revealed that the helicopter hit the surface of the helipad hard during touchdown, after which it bounced and after losing direction by about 270 degrees, it stabilized on the ground again.

During the audit, five operators were found not maintaining proper flight records in their technical log books. 

17/08/22 ANI/Print

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DGCA issues new guidelines for airports in India to prevent bird hit in aircrafts

With increasing bird hit and other animal incidents with aircrafts, the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued guidelines for airports across India. The guidelines include carrying out routine patrols in random patterns and informing pilots whenever there is any wildlife activity. There have been various incidents of bird hits during the last few weeks.

On August 4, Go First's flight to Chandigarh returned to Ahmedabad on Thursday after suffering a bird hit. On June 19, an engine on a SpiceJet Delhi-bound aircraft carrying 185 passengers caught fire soon after it took off from the Patna airport and the plane made an emergency landing minutes later. The engine malfunctioned because of a bird hit.

The regulator stated in its Saturday circular that all airport operators are requested to review their wildlife hazard management programme to identify the gaps and ensure its strict implementation in and in the vicinity of an aerodrome. The DGCA asked the airports to carry out a wildlife risk assessment and rank them according to the risk posed to aircraft.

The airports must have a procedure to monitor and record wildlife movement data, it said. The airports should also have a procedure to notify pilots "in response to any significant wildlife concentration or activity both on and in the vicinity of the airport," it mentioned. Routine patrolling is the core of the wildlife hazard management programme, it said.

The patrols should be carried out in random patterns rather than a regular route so that wildlife do not learn or become accustomed to the timing of patrols, it mentioned.

"Aerodrome operators are directed to forward monthly action taken reports on the implementation of wildlife hazard management programme and also provide wildlife strike data...By 7th of every month," it noted.

13/08/22 ZeeNews

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False Alarm, Says Airport After Go First Emergency Landing In Coimbatore

A Go First flight, flying from Bengaluru to Male in Maldives, with 92 passengers made an emergency landing in Coimbatore due to a faulty smoke alarm. The pilot detected the smoke warning while flying over Tamil Nadu's textile city.

The airport authorities in Coimbatore, however, said it was a "false alarm".

The alarm went off after the twin engines allegedly overheated, news agency PTI reported. The engineers checked the engines and declared that there was some fault in the alarm and declared that the aircraft was fit to fly, it added.

"The matter is being inspected by the Go First engineering team and rectification is underway," said a spokesperson of the airline.

The flight departed for Male after 5 pm after following all procedures.

Last month, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held meeting with chiefs of Indian carriers after reports of multiple technical malfunction incidents during the last one month. Mr Scindia told each airline to take all necessary steps that are needed to ramp up safety oversight.

Last week, an aircraft of Go First returned to Ahmedabad after it suffered a bird strike within a few minutes of take-off on Thursday afternoon.

On June 20, a Delhi-bound aircraft of the SpiceJet airlines caught fire soon after taking off from the Patna airport and made an emergency landing minutes later due to a bird hit. On the same day, another Delhi-bound IndiGo flight returned to Guwahati airport due to a suspected bird hit after the take-off.

12/08/22 NDTV

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Who is Rauf Azhar? All you need to know about Jaish terrorist whose footprints present in Kandahar hijacking to Pulwama attack

New Delhi: Jaish-e-Mohammed's Abdul Rauf Azhar, in the news after China blocked a proposal at the UN to blacklist him, is believed to be one of the main conspirators of the IC-814 Kandahar hijacking of 1999 and also the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in 2019.

Since 1999, Rauf Azhar, brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, has emerged as the master of optics in terms of orchestrating most audacious attacks on Indian establishments that grabbed eyeballs across the globe including the 2001 attack on Parliament when a session was on, the 2005 attack on makeshift Ayodhya Ram temple, and the 2016 attack on forward base of IAF in Pathankot among others.

Designated as a 'global terrorist' by the US in 2010, Rauf Azhar sprung on the terror map in 1999 when the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Tribhuvan International Airport of Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked and taken to Taliban-controlled Kandhar on December 24.

As the hijacking saga came to an end on December 31, 1999, security agencies identified Rauf Azhar as one of the main conspirators who had hatched the plot to secure the release of his brother Masood Azhar from Kot Balwal jail of Jammu, causing embarrassment to Indian government.

Rauf Azhar, who was tagged by the US as 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' in 2010, was the chief of banned Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2007 when his elder brother Masood Azhar was kept at an undisclosed destination by the ISI in the wake of international pressure.

China has blocked a proposal by the US and India at the UN to blacklist Rauf Azhar, the second such move by Beijing in less than two months.

12/08/22 PTI/New Indian Express

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Delay in flights at Goa Airport after Coast Guard's Dornier plane suffers tyre burst

A tyre of a Dornier Do-228 of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) suffered a tyre burst during routine tests on a runway at the Dabolim airport in Goa on Thursday, resulting in disruption of commercial flight movements at the airport, a senior official said.

The incident, which took place in the afternoon, delayed several flights operating from the airport, airport sources said. The Coast Guard operates from the INS Hansa naval base which also houses the Dabolim civilian airport. A tyre burst when the aircraft was undergoing routine tests, Deputy Inspector General of ICG Arunabh Bose told.

11/08/22 Zee News

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SpiceJet pilots flag snags with plane's weather radar: Report

Pilots of the SpiceJet aircraft that three months ago faced severe turbulence leaving 14 passengers injured, had flagged reliability defects with the plane’s weather radar, according to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) preliminary investigation as reported by Economic Times.

According to the report, on April 30, pilots of the aircraft, VT-SLH, while operating from Delhi to Kolkata, found that the radar was not depicting the weather accurately. After landing at Kolkata, the commander of the aircraft made note of the issue in the pilot defect report. As indicated in the report, SpiceJet’s maintenance control centre was aware of these issues.

However, a spokesperson for SpiceJet has rejected the claim that there were any issues with the plane’s radar. 

"This information is wrong. The investigation report of the said case has been submitted to the regulator. No such findings of an unserviceable weather radar were deduced," the spokesperson told ET.

According to the SpiceJet spokesperson, adequate funds were being allocated for proper maintenance of the aircraft. "DGCA conducted a series of spot checks on all operating aircraft of SpiceJet from 9 to 13th July 2022 which did not find any major significant finding or safety violation."

10/08/22 Deccan Herald

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Bird strike in planes can be reduced using THIS technology! Will reduce emergency landing incidents

Indian airlines have been recently facing a lot of incidents of bird strikes. These incidents are common throughout the aviation industry. However, bird strike incidents are usually not very problematic. Still, if the bird hits any vital part of the aircraft, it can lead to severe accidents causing damage to the plane. The damage caused by the bird strikes can be better understood by the recent cancellations, delays, or return of flights to the origin airport in India. To combat this problem, scientists in China may have found a potent solution with the development of a potent solution using an Artificial incident (AI)-driven system working with lasers.

Based on Simple Flying's report, a study conducted by Professor Zhao Fan and her colleagues at the Xi'an University of Technology was later published in the peer-reviewed journal Laser & Optoelectronics Progress in April. Four components were used to create the robotic system, which was AI-driven and comprised a camera to detect birds, a tracking video processing module, a laser emitter, and a rotating mirror to reflect and direct the beam. When the AI system spots a bird, it decides to lock on to it as a target and uses the camera and a video processing module to track it in real-time as it continues to fly.

These algorithms direct the painful but non-lethal high-energy laser beam onto the bird until it escapes the constrained airspace. The bird-repelling system can be employed effectively on birds flying at a range of at least 1,000 metres, according to on-site tests.

The method does not, however, come without its risks. Some civil aviation specialists have highlighted safety concerns about the device, despite the AI-driven laser system's encouraging results in keeping birds away from the airfield. The laser beams employed on the birds may just be uncomfortable and non-lethal, but they could still endanger the pilots' vision.

Pilots have been shown to be rendered inoperable by lasers due to momentary blindness, disorientation, and even permanent eye injury. The laser beams could shine on an airplane instead of the bird if the system's accuracy is less than perfect.

10/08/22 ZeeNews

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Kite hits SpiceJet Turboprop aircraft while landing near Kolkata airport, all passengers safe

SpiceJet has been going through a turbulent time for a while now due to repetitive technical snags or bird hit incidents. But this time it was not the airline’s fault. On August 7, the pilots of SpiceJet Dash 8-Q400 aircraft were distracted moments before landing at the Kolkata airport when a kite struck the windshield of the plane. However, the pilots managed to make the landing safely and no one was hurt. 

Soon after landing, the incident was reported to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and which was then further reported to the police. Flying kites are strictly prohibited around the airport area with special emphasis on the route taken by the planes. The investigation has been initiated. 

This is not the first time that such an incident has been reported, as usually during Durga Puja, laser lights and high-rise pandals do distract pilots and affect flight movements. Last year, three pilots faced issues while taking off and landing on the runway due to this issue. 

Currently, SpiceJet is operating not more than 50 percent of its flights as per the orders of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The regulator had in July imposed the curb on the airline's flights for a period of eight weeks as its planes were involved in at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in the June 19-July 5 period.

09/08/22 ZeeNews

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Kite flying near Kolkata airport poses danger to flights

Kite flying near the Kolkata airport has emerged as a danger to commercial flights prompting the pilots of a Spicejet turboprop plane to lodge a complaint with the Airports Authority of India. 

On Sunday night, a Spicejet turboprop plane was coming in to land at Kolkata Airport when a kite struck its windshield.

The pilots of the plane have complained that kites were being flown around the New Barrackpore area near the airport in violation of rules. Kite flying is banned near airports as they endanger the safety of planes. 

Any distraction when a plane is in the final stages of landing or take-off can result in a serious accident.

The pilots have submitted a written complaint to the airport operational control centre and mentioned the kite incident in their logbooks.

The incident has been reported to the police by the AAI.

09/08/22 India Narrative

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'Safety is paramount': Aviation minister as glitches, mishaps plague Indian airlines

New Delhi: Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the safety and security of flyers are paramount. The statement comes in the backdrop of a number of incidents of glitches and mishaps hampering airlines.

In an interview with India Today, Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “This is an industry and a sector where reporting is not 99 per cent, it’s a 100 per cent. Every occurrence gets reported. There are always the cases of some occurrences which are in an airline’s control, and some that are not, for example, bad weather is something that’s not in an airline’s control, a bird hit isn’t. And some things are in an airline’s control. So the primary responsibility is the airline’s for safety but for me, safety is paramount.”

In July, aviation regulator DGCA ordered SpiceJet to operate maximum 50 per cent of its flights, which were approved for summer schedule, for a period of eight weeks. This had come following several incidents of technical malfunction in its aircraft.

Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “For me, safety is important and that’s where the regulator, in terms of DGCA comes in. You have seen over the past few weeks, a lot of steps have been taken (to ensure safety). Through these steps a lot of confidence-building has happened amongst the airlines and passengers.”

07/08/22 Poulomi Saha/India Today

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Kozhikode: Air India Express completes payout to victims

Air India Express has completed the settlement of compensations for passengers and crew who were on board the flight (IX 1344), which crashed on landing at Calicut International Airport on August 7, 2020.

According to sources with Air India Express, 165 injured passengers, four crew members, kin of 19 deceased passengers and two deceased pilots have been compensated within two years of the crash. "The process adopted by the airline includes a Kozhikode-based helpdesk, which is still live. All communications were through WhatsApp. Usually, documents are sought through email or post. We eased the process by accepting the documents through WhatsApp to avoid delays," said an airline official.

All passengers were given a contact person to coordinate the compensation process, the official said. "We were with the passengers through every step. We accepted consultations with private hospitals too. Their treating doctors certified whether the injuries were grievous or non-grievous. The amount was decided based on their treating doctors' report. We didn't set up a medical board to examine them, thus easing the process," he added.

Top management of the company had camped in Karipur to coordinate the process. Besides the compensation, the airline handled the hospital and travel expenses relating to the process, the official added. "Airline had handled the transportation cost for the passenger and bystander for travelling to hospitals. Also, out of pocket expenditure, including rent for staying near hospitals, were handled on humanitarian ground," said the source.

The survivors of the crash at Calicut International Airport had decided to pool money from the funds they have received as compensation to build a new hospital building for the local bravehearts of Kondotty who fought heavy rains and disregarded the Covid pandemic scare to rush the injured passengers from the flight wreckage to nearby hospitals.

07/08/22 Times of India

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Two aviation engineers hospitalised after lightning strike in Nagpur airport

Nagpur: Two aviation engineers were struck by lightning and suffered injuries on Saturday evening at Nagpur airport in Maharashtra, an official said.

While one engineer fell unconscious on impact, the second has weakness in his right hand, Mohammad Etesham, duty doctor of Kingsway Hospital at the airport, told PTI.

They were talking on their walkie-talkie sets to the captain of an Indigo flight that had arrived at the bay at around 5pm when the incident took place, Etesham informed.

The two are under observation in the Intensive Care Unit of Kingsway Hospital, he added.

06/08/22 PTI/Mid Day

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Bird Menace: 5 Flights Kept On Hold At Airport

While bird hits are common during monsoon, the runway at Ahmedabad airport continued to see flights of birds even after a bird-hit incident with a Chandigarh-bound on Thursday morning. The pilot informed the air traffic control and jeeps were run to chase away the birds even as 5-6 flights were kept on hold.

During peak hours on the same day, a Vistara flight, a chartered aircraft and then three other flights came to the runway but one pilot noticed birds on runway and informed the ATC, which sent out a jeep to shoo away the birds. Meanwhile, the chartered flight took off, while the other two aircraft waited their turn.

On Thursday, a Go-First flight to Chandigarh with 100 passengers made an emergency landing due to a bird-hit, minutes after take-off.

06/08/22 Ahmedabad Mirror

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Vistara flight returns to Varanasi due to bird hit during take off

New Delhi: A Vistara Varanasi-Mumbai flight on Friday suffered a bird hit during take off. The aircraft safely returned safely to the origin airport.

The Airbus A320’s (VT-TNC) radome has been damaged and the aircraft has been grounded in Varanasi, say Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials.

This is at least the second bird hit in as many days. Aviation officials say these instances rise during monsoon as waterlogged ground forces worms to the surface, attracting more birds that usual.

About Friday’s bird hit, Vistara said in a statement: “Vistara flight UK 622 operating Varanasi to Mumbai on August 5, 2022, turned back to Varanasi due to a bird strike during departure. Due to a maintenance inspection of the aircraft being required, another aircraft has been sent from Delhi to Varanasi to fly the passengers to Mumbai. It has been our constant endeavour to minimise inconvenience to our customers in such unavoidable situations whilst keeping safety as our topmost priority.”

GoFirst’s Ahmedabad-Chandigarh flight on Thursday had safely returned to the origin soon after take off following a bird hit. There was a suspected bird hit to engine number 1 and the aircraft operating as G8-911 had returned to Ahmedabad.

05/08/22 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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