Dubai-bound flight from India aborts take-off after bird hit

A Dubai-bound from India’s Mangaluru International Airport aborted take-off after the airplane was hit by a bird, local media reported on Thursday.

The IndiGo flight was hit by a bird when it entered the runway from the taxiway, according to an airport spokesperson.

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The pilot informed the air traffic control of the incident and returned to the tarmac to deplane the passengers, the reports said.

“The 160 passengers on the flight were deplaned, and the aircraft was declared ‘aircraft on ground’ for a thorough engineering inspection,” the spokesperson said.

Passengers were transported to another IndiGo flight which took off from the airport at 11:05 local time.

Bird strikes only pose a significant threat to flight safety in rare cases, but they are almost always fatal for the birds.

Most accidents caused by bird strikes occur when the bird is either sucked into the engine of a jet or when the bird flies into the windscreen. These accidents are estimated to cost commercial airlines worldwide up to $1.2 billion annually, and $400 million in the US alone, according to leading aviation news website Simple Flying.

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