Hit by bird, flight makes emergency landing at Ranchi, passengers safe

Around 175 passengers had a close shave after an IndiGo flight suffered a bird hit and made an emergency landing at Ranchi's Birsa Munda Airport on Monday, an official said. All passengers and crew members are safe while the aircraft Airbus 320 suffered damage, he said.

"An IndiGo flight suffered a bird hit near Ranchi. It was approximately 10 to 12 nautical miles away from here, at about 3,000 to 4,000 feet altitude, when the incident occurred. The IndiGo flight was coming from Patna to Ranchi, and the pilot had to make an emergency landing here," Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi, Director RR Maurya said.

He said all the passengers are safe, but the "aircraft suffered a dent after being hit by a vulture. Engineers are assessing the damage," he said.

The incident occurred at 1.14 pm. Another official said that the aircraft, which was coming to Ranchi, was scheduled to go to Kolkata.

An IndiGo spokesperson confirmed that a bird had hit the aircraft, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. Sources said that the pilot followed all protocols after the bird hit the aircraft. The aircraft is grounded now, they added.