Jet Airways: Plane grounded after bird strike, all 55 passengers safe

Source: DNA  
Last Updated 03:40(25/04/12)
  

Indore: Around 55 passengers of a Raipur-bound Jet Airways flight had a narrow escape after a bird hit the plane’s nose during take-off at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar airport here on Tuesday night.

The Jet Airways flight 9W 2822 was grounded after the bird strike.

The flight had landed here at around 6.35 pm from Jaipur and was scheduled to depart at 7.05 pm.

During the take-off, a bird hit the nose of the plane, forcing the pilot to return, airlines officials said.

An inspection by the technical team revealed that the incident caused damage to the plane, rendering it unfit to fly, they said.

Passengers were diverted to their destinations through Mumbai and Delhi. Some of them have been lodged in city hotels and would be flown to their destinations tomorrow, sources added.

This is the third such bird hit incident in last three years.

Airport authorities have been crying foul over large number of illegal slaughterhouses in the vicinity around the airport that invite birds for easy food.

The district administration and the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) had launched drives to remove the slaughterhouses but their efforts made little headway.

Over half-a-dozen incidents of bird strikes have been reported in last one year.

This flight was the fourth airplane grounded because of the bird strike.

Flights grounded due to bird hit October 10, 2011 - New Delhi bound Jet Airways flight number S2 792 carrying 80 passengers December 28, 2011 - New Delhi bound Jetlite flight carrying 74 passengers January 23, 2012 - Raipur bound Indigo flight carrying 120 passengers.

Source:  http://daily.bhaskar.com