Close shave for Jet passengers in bird-hit
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 5
As many as 104 passengers and six crew members had a narrow escape when the engine of the Delhi- Chandigarh-Mumbai Jet Airways flight (9w 472/s25735) was hit by a group of birds today.
The flight was approaching Chandigarh at 2.56 pm when the birds hit its right engine. The plane landed safely at the Chandigarh airport and the passengers were accommodated in another plane for their onwards journey to Mumbai after staying at the airport here for nearly four hours.
The plane, parked at the airport, has been damaged slightly and will be made operational tomorrow. According to sources, the ATC was informed about the incident at around 3 pm. The incident led to a delay in two other flights.
“The aircraft and all passengers landed safely at the Chandigarh airport. There is nothing serious about the incident. The plane was slightly damaged and will resume its operations tomorrow after minor repair work,” said the duty manager at the airport.
Earlier, in the afternoon, the ground staff were put on alert soon after the incident was confirmed by the ATC. The fire brigade staff were deployed and the runway cleared. “There was a slight delay in the operations of other flights. We had alerted the ground staff and the emergency services department. Nothing major has happened,” said the manager. Pritush Goel, one of the passengers who was scheduled to leave for Mumbai, said, “Our flight was delayed by over four hours. We were told that there was some technical hitch in the flight. However, later we were briefed about the exact situation. The airline authorities asked us to wait till further arrangements were made.”
