A bird strike was reported at Patna airport on Monday morning when an Air India flight carrying 164 passengers from Delhi to Patna was hit by a bird. Officials said flight AI 1741 landed safely at 7.43am.
As a precaution, airport authorities activated the emergency landing protocol and deployed fire and other emergency services.
Bird strike confirmed, engine undamaged
According to airport officials, the pilot of AI 1741 suspected that a bird had struck near the aircraft’s right turbine as it approached the runway. A post-landing inspection confirmed the bird strike, but found no damage to the engine.
After the necessary checks, the aircraft was cleared to return to Delhi. The return flight, AI 1852, carrying 160 passengers, was delayed by 79 minutes. It departed at 10.09am instead of its scheduled departure time of 8.45am.
Similar incident reported on 17 August
A similar bird-strike incident occurred on 17 August involving an Air India flight travelling from Delhi to Patna. The aircraft sustained significant damage, forcing a two-day suspension of its operations.
Engineers had to be flown in from Delhi to carry out the repairs.
