IndiGo flight hit by vultures at 4,000 feet, makes emergency landing at Ranchi airport; aircraft suffers damage

A Kolkata-bound IndiGo flight had to make an emergency landing at Ranchi after suffering a bird hit mid-air, officials said on Monday.

The IndiGo flight, carrying 175 passengers, made an emergency landing at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport after vultures hit the aircraft, officials said.

All the passengers and crew members are safe, PTI reported, quoting an official.

However, the official said the Airbus 320 suffered damage near the nose. The vultures hit the IndiGo flight at about a 4,000 feet altitude.

“An IndiGo flight suffered a bird hit near Ranchi. It was approximately 10 to 12 nautical miles away from here at an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet when the incident occurred,” Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi, Director R R Maurya was quoted as saying by PTI.

“The IndiGo flight was coming from Patna to Ranchi, and the pilot had to make an emergency landing here,” Maurya added.

The IndiGo aircraft suffered a dent, and engineers are assessing the damage, he said.

“The aircraft suffered a dent after being hit by a vulture. Engineers are assessing the damage.”

Another official said that the aircraft, which was coming to Ranchi, was scheduled to go to Kolkata.

IndiGo has, however, not made any statement regarding the incident.

Second IndiGo aircraft damaged in 15 days

This is the second time in 15 days that an IndiGo aircraft has suffered damage due to natural reasons.

On 21 May, a Delhi-Srinagar IndiGo flight encountered a sudden hailstorm but landed safely at the Srinagar airport.

Officials said the flight, carrying more than 220 people, faced turbulence, prompting the pilot to report the "emergency" to air traffic control at Srinagar.

“IndiGo flight 6E 2142 operating from Delhi to Srinagar encountered a sudden hailstorm en route. The flight and cabin crew followed established protocol and the aircraft landed safely in Srinagar,” the company had said in a statement.

TMC leader Sagarika Ghose, who was on the turbulence-hit Indigo flight, termed it a “near-death experience”.

Videos of the moments of turbulence emerged on social media showing panicked passengers praying for their lives as the plane swayed.

The aircraft suffered damage due to the hailstorm near its nose.

A DGCA probe into the incident revealed that the Delhi-Srinagar IndiGo flight was denied entry into Pakistani airspace, which was sought by the pilot to avoid turbulence.