A Vistara flight goint to Mumbai returned on Varanasi after a bird hit the plane, said the airline. Sources said the aircraft suffered damage and has been grounded.
This is the second bird hit case in two days. On Thursday, a Chandigarh-bound Go First plane returned to Ahmedabad as it was hit by a bird shortly after taking off. The Times of India quoted aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as saying that the incident is being investigated.
In a statement, a Vistara spokesperson said: "Vistara flight UK 622 operating from 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."
This is the latest mishap to hit the Indian aviation sector this week. Some of the other incidents and regulatory actions taken with regard to them are listed below:
- The DGCA ON July 27 ordered airline SpiceJet to operate only 50 per cent of flights for next eight weeks. Business Standard reported that the order came after "an unusually high number of incidents involving the airline, raising safety concerns".
On July 6, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice following at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in SpiceJet's aircraft since June 19. One of the incidents happened on July 5 when Delhi-Dubai flight was diverted to Karachi due to a malfunctioning fuel indicator. Its Kandla-Mumbai flight also did priority landing in Mumbai after cracks developed on its windshield mid-air.
- A trainer aircraft crashed in Maharashtra's Pune district on July 25. DGCA ordered an inquiry into the accident. The pilot survived but was injured.
- On July 17, IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precaution after pilots observed a defect in an engine. In a separate incident on the same day, Air India Express's Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in the cabin mid-air.
- Indigo is under invsetigation for a July 14 incident when Delhi-Vadodara flight was diverted to Jaipur out of precaution as vibrations were observed in the engines.
- A live bird was found in the cockpit of Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight on July 15. The bird was found in the glove compartment on co-pilot's side when the plane was at 37,000 feet altitude. The DGCA is investigating the incident.
- On July 5, an engine of a Vistara aircraft on way from Bangkok failed after it landed at the Delhi airport.
- On July 5, the cabin crew of an IndiGo's Raipur-Indore flight observed smoke in the plane after it landed at its destination.
- On July 2, a SpiceJet flight heading to Jabalpur returned to Delhi after the crew members observed smoke in the cabin at around 5,000 feet altitude.
- Fuselage door warnings lit up on two separate SpiceJet planes while taking off on June 24 and June 25, forcing them to abandon their journeys and return.
- On June 19, an engine on SpiceJet's Delhi-bound aircraft carrying 185 passengers caught fire soon after the take-off from Patna airport and the plane made an emergency landing minutes later. The engine malfunctioned because of a bird hit.
- On June 19, a SpiceJet flight for Jabalpur had to return to Delhi due to cabin pressurisation issues.
(With PTI inputs)
