Air India Flight Hit by Bird While Landing at Patna Airport, Second Incident in a Week
Air India News
An Air India flight from Delhi to Patna carrying 164 passengers was involved in a bird-strike incident while landing at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport on Monday, August 24. The aircraft landed safely, and there were no reports of injuries among passengers or crew. The incident is the second bird-strike involving an Air India flight at Patna airport within a week.
The aircraft was operating Air India flight AI 1741 from Delhi to Patna. According to airport officials, the pilot reported a suspected bird strike near the aircraft’s right engine while the plane was approaching the runway.
The flight landed safely at around 7:43 am. Following the pilot’s report, airport authorities activated the emergency landing protocol and deployed fire and other emergency services as a precaution.
A detailed inspection was conducted after the aircraft reached the ground. The inspection confirmed that a bird had struck the aircraft, but officials found no damage to the engine. The aircraft subsequently completed the mandatory safety checks and was cleared for further operations.
After the inspection, the aircraft was used for its return service to Delhi. The return flight, AI 1852, was carrying 160 passengers.
It departed Patna at 10:09 am, around 79 minutes later than its scheduled departure time of 8:45 am. The delay followed the safety inspection carried out after the bird strike.
Monday’s incident has raised fresh attention to bird activity around Patna airport because it occurred only days after another bird-strike involving an Air India flight.
On August 17, another Delhi-Patna Air India flight reportedly suffered a bird strike. The aircraft remained grounded for two days while maintenance engineers were brought in from Delhi to carry out repairs. It was later cleared for operations following inspection and regulatory approval.
Repeated bird strikes can pose a safety concern for aircraft, particularly when they occur during take-off or landing, when aircraft are operating close to the ground. Airports therefore maintain bird-control and wildlife-management measures to reduce the risk.
For passengers on Monday’s flight, however, the incident ended without injuries or engine damage, and the aircraft was able to return to service after completing the required safety checks.
Ajeet Yadav is an aviation enthusiast covering airline news, airports, aircraft, and industry developments through well-researched and reliable reporting.
