Kolkata-bound plane suffers 'bird hit', all on board safe

An airplane, heading towards Kolkata from Dubai, suffered a 'bird hit' just as it was about to land at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI) on Monday morning.

The incident took place at around 9.40 am. One of the engines of the plane was damaged but it landed safely at the airport.

The airport authorities have said that a bird hit an Air Asia plane, damaging the left engine of the carrier.

The technical staff at the airport have started repairing the damaged engine. Another flight was arranged for the passengers who had booked a ticket for the return journey.

A similar incident took place a few weeks ago, when an airplane from Bengaluru suffered a 'bird hit' while landing at NSCBI Airport. That incident happened at around 6 am and the right engine of the Jet Airways flight was damaged.

The NSCBI authorities, who started an inquiry on the repeated incidents of bird hit, found that some local municipalities, adjacent to the airport, were not properly looking after waste management.

After it was brought to the notice of the civic bodies, some of the municipalities started addressing the issues but with Monday's incident, it seems that the steps have not reaped dividend.

An airport source said that an open waste bin at Michael Nagar near the airport attracts birds, who try to fly over the runway, causing such incidents.

"We have relocated the passengers of Air Asia flight to another Dubai-bound plane," the source added.