All the passengers were safe, but the "aircraft suffered a dent after being hit by a vulture. Engineers were assessing the damage," an official said on Monday
Damaged nose of an IndiGo aircraft after a bird strike during takeoff at Birsa Munda Airport. Pic/PTI
An IndiGo flight suffered a bird hit and made an emergency landing at Ranchi's Birsa Munda Airport on Monday, an official said, adding that around 175 passengers in the aircraft were safe, reported the PTI.
All the passengers and crew members are safe while the aircraft Airbus 320 suffered damage, the official said.
"An IndiGo flight suffered a bird hit near Ranchi. It was approximately 10 to 12 nautical miles away from here at an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet 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 R R Maurya told PTI.
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.
IndiGo officials, however, did not make any comment, the PTI reported.
IndiGo places order for 30 more wide-body A350 planes
Meanwhile, IndiGo on Sunday announced it will place a firm order for another 30 wide-body A350-900 planes as the country's largest airline steps up its efforts for long-term international expansion, according to the PTI.
In April last year, the airline placed a firm order for 30 A350 aircraft and there was an option to order 70 more such planes.
At a briefing in the national capital, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said that out of the option for 70 planes, it is now placing a firm order of 30 aircraft, as per the PTI.
The airline has over 900 planes on order that are to be delivered in the coming years.
With ambitions to have more than 600 planes as well as become a global carrier by 2030, IndiGo is not only betting on more wide-body operations but is also expanding its partnerships to provide enhanced connectivity to Europe and North American destinations.
On the sidelines of the IATA World Air Transport Summit (WATS) in the national capital, IndiGo inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus to double its wide-body order from 30 to 60 firm Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
"This is yet another step in defining the airline's long-term plans of international expansion," the airline said, the PTI reported.
IndiGo is also set to operate flights to 10 new overseas cities with leased Boeing 787 planes in the current fiscal year ending March 2026.
Currently, the airline has more than 430 planes in its fleet and operates around 2,300 daily flights.
(with PTI inputs)
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