Mumbai-bound Air Asia flight suffers bird-hit at Ranchi airport; aborts take-off

New Delhi, August 8

An AirAsia India aircraft departing for Mumbai on Saturday morning aborted its take-off at Ranchi airport after encountering a bird hit, said the airline spokesperson.

This incident occurred a day after an Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people onboard overshot the runway at Kozhikode airport in rainy conditions and went down 35 feet into a slope before breaking up into two pieces, killing at least 18 people.

“AirAsia India aircraft VT-HKG operating from Ranchi to Mumbai as flight i5-632 encountered a bird hit during scheduled departure at 11:50 hrs, today, 8th August 2020,” stated the airline spokesperson.

The pilot aborted take-off and the aircraft was being inspected, the spokesperson said, adding that the flight was scheduled to depart once the aircraft is cleared for operations.

However, later during the day, the spokesperson said another aircraft VT-JRT from Kolkata is being made available as an alternative to ferry guests from Ranchi to Mumbai.

The spokesperson informed all its passengers are being attended to and served refreshments by its guest services staff at the Birsa Munda airport.

“AirAsia India prioritises the safety of our guests and crew and regrets the inconvenience caused on account of this delay,” the spokesperson said.

Birsa Munda Airport Director Vinod Sharma said that after the bird hit, all the passengers were deboarded and given snacks.

The plane was brought to the bay and thoroughly checked, he said. At 3.30 pm, the plane was to take off again, but then sparks were noticed and it was once again brought to the bay. PTI