Air India’s Chennai-Colombo flight suffers ‘suspected bird hit’

An Air India Chennai-Colombo flight carrying 158 passengers suffered a “suspected bird hit” on Tuesday and the plane has been grounded after landing at the international airport here for “extensive checks”, officials said.

According to officials, the crew of the Colombo-bound Air India flight from Chennai reported a “suspected bird strike,” but on its landing in the Sri Lankan capital, engineers found no damage and green-signalled the aircraft’s return journey to Chennai.

After the aircraft landed safely in Chennai, the engineers here examined the engine again and found an “impact,” on the engine blade, Air India authorities clarified.

Following this, the aircraft was grounded and the engineers carried out extensive checks, and its further trip to Colombo was cancelled, and an alternative aircraft was arranged for passengers, officials said.

An Air India spokesperson, in a statement to PTI said: “The flight crew of AI 273 operating from Chennai to Colombo reported a suspected bird strike. After landing at Colombo, the engineers who inspected the aircraft found no damage, and the aircraft was cleared for operation.”

The spokesperson added: “The same aircraft operated flight AI 274 from Colombo to Chennai as per schedule. Upon routine post-flight checks at Chennai, the engineers observed an impact on an engine blade. Consequently, the aircraft has been grounded for further inspections and to ascertain the cause of the damage.”