A Ranchi-bound IndiGo flight made emergency landing after suffering being hit by vulture around 4,000 feet altitude at Ranchi airport, the officials said on Monday. The airport officials said that the flight was carrying 175 passengers at the time of the incident and all passengers are safe.
"An IndiGo flight suffered a bird hit near Ranchi. It was approximately 10 to 12 nautical miles away from the city at an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet when the incident occurred. The IndiGo flight was coming from Patna to Ranchi, and the pilot had to make an emergency landing here," Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi, Director R R Maurya told PTI.
He said all the passengers are safe, but the "aircraft suffered a dent after being hit by a vulture. Engineers are assessing the damage," he said.
The incident occurred at 1.14 pm. Another official said that the aircraft, which was coming to Ranchi, was scheduled to go to Kolkata. IndiGo officials, however, did not make any comment.
It should be noted that the bird hits incidents are a common aviation hazard, especially during take-off and landing phases and all the airlines inspect the aircraft thoroughly before allowing it back into service.
Another IndiGo flight from Raipur to Delhi experienced turbulence due to a duststorm on Sunday, prompting the pilot to climb up again when the aircraft was about to touch down at Delhi airport.
Flight 6E 6313 landed safely at Delhi airport after making many circles in the air. The video of the incident also went viral on social media.
The pilot announced that the wind speed was upto 80 km/hrs, and he discontinued the approach and climbed back till the weather cleared.
Meanwhile, the national capital on Sunday witnessed a spell of rain, accompanied by strong winds over the southern parts of Delhi.
The rains are due to an east-southeastward-moving cloud cluster, according to the Meteorological Department.
The spell of rain offered a much-needed respite from the heat, as the national capital recorded maximum temperatures of more than 39 C earlier in the morning.
According to IMD, Safdarjung area recorded a maximum temperature of 39.7 degrees Celsius, Ayanagar 39.5 degrees Celsius, Lodhi Road 39.4 degrees Celsius and Palam recording 39.1 degrees Celsius.
