Bird-hit Air India flight makes emergency landing at IGIA

A Bhubaneshwar-bound Air India flight made an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Sunday morning.

Airport officials said the plane was hit by a bird after take off and the landing was a precautionary measure. No major disruptions were reported and no one was injured in the incident, officials said.

The flight (AI 877) took off from IGI Airport at 11.50 am and its windscreen was hit by a bird 12 minutes after take-off, sources said.

Airport officials said around 115 passengers were in the plane. "There was no engine failure or fire," an airport official said.

Passengers boarded another Bhubaneshwar-bound flight a few hours later.

Airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said bird-hit cases at the IGIA have decreased over the past few years, with only nine incidents reported till June this year compared to 67 in 2008, 36 in 2010 and 34 in 2011.

DIAL claimed that high-pitch sound blasts and a cleanliness drive in and around the airport have reduced the number of bird hits.

DIAL said vehicles mounted with scarecrows patrol the airport. They use acoustic guns which emit high-frequency soundwaves to keep birds off the runway.

In April, a Dubai-bound Air India flight was hit by a bird and it had to make an emergency landing at the Karipur International Airport in Calicut.

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