A flight-bound for Goa returned to its outbound airport in Bengaluru after a stray dog was spotted on the runway by the Air Traffic Controller, according to a PTI report. The incident took place on Monday afternoon when the pilot decided to turn back without landing at the Dabolim Airport after he was asked to “hold for sometime” as a stray dog was spotted on the runway but “he preferred to return to Bengaluru”, Goa airport's director SVT Dhanamjaya Rao told PTI.
According to Dabolim airport sources, “Just as UK 881 approached the airport, a stray dog was spotted on the runway by the ground staff. The air traffic control alerted the pilot of the flight not to land immediately. This is a standard procedure done until the ground staff clears the runway. However, we don’t know why the pilot decided to return to Bengaluru.”
The Vistara flight UK 881 left from the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru at 12:55 pm on Monday and returned at 3:05 pm. Later, the flight again took off from Bengaluru at 4:55 pm and reached Goa at 6:15 pm. A flyer said refueling was done at KIA for an hour before its second take-off.
On Monday, Vistara in a post on X said, “Flight UK881 from Bengaluru to Goa (BLR-GOI) has been diverted to Bengaluru due to runway restriction at Goa (GOI) airport and is expected to arrive in Bengaluru at 1505 hrs.”
In another post after two hours, it said, “Flight UK881 which was diverted to Bengaluru has departed from Bengaluru at 1655 hours and is expected to arrive in Goa at 1815 hours.”
The Dabolim Airport in Goa is part of the Navy's INS Hansa base.
Rao said once in a while there are instances of a stray dog entering the runway but the area is cleared immediately by the ground staff. “This is the first such incident in my tenure of the last one-and-a-half years,” he added.
In 2019, the Indian Navy had in a statement said that garbage in the vicinity was attracting stray canines. "INS Hansa, along with the government of Goa, has taken proactive steps to remove stray dogs from vicinity of the runway," said a statement issued by the Indian Navy, IANS report.
"The increase in rampant throwing of garbage outside the airport and areas around Dabolim-Bogmalo has resulted in an increase in dog and bird menace at the airport which is seriously impinging the safety of passengers," the statement added.
The Navy also claims that it has written to local panchayats to do what they can to stop dumping of garbage in the airport's vicinity.