One of the engine blades of an Air India plane was damaged when it landed in Kolkata on Monday morning, perhaps due to a bird strike, according to authorities, news agency PTI reported.
They claimed a blade on the right engine of the Airbus A320, which landed here from Mumbai, was bent during checks after boarding was completed for its return flight.
According to reports, Air India flight AI675 arrived in Kolkata about 8.20 a.m. after taking off from Mumbai at 6.16 a.m.
A total of 119 people boarded the plane (AI676) from Kolkata for the return flight to Mumbai. There were also six cabin staff members on the plane, which was about to take off when the damage was discovered.
The passengers were forced from the plane, which was later repaired. According to authorities, the passengers boarded the same flight to Mumbai about 1 p.m.
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Earlier on Saturday, a full emergency was declared at the Delhi airport after Dubai-bound FedEx aircraft suffered a bird hit soon after take-off, an airport official said. On Saturday, at 10.46 am flight no. FX5279 was forced to make an emergency landing after being hit by a bird shortly after takeoff. At 1.44 pm, the plane landed safely and took off again. FedEx operates Dubai-bound aircraft. The flight was scheduled to arrive in Dubai at 3.29 pm.
While bird incidents are common, numerous passenger flights from Delhi Airport have recently been diverted owing to poor weather. On Thursday, roughly 22 planes were diverted from Delhi Airport due to weather conditions.
Recently, an IndiGo flight from Surat to Delhi was recently rerouted to Ahmedabad after being hit by a bird during a climb in Surat.
The engine fan blades were found to be broken during the ground inspection, according to the DGCA.
(With Inputs From PTI)