Pilot reports bird hit while landing at Kolkata Airport

Kolkata: An aircraft of Biman Bangladesh suffered a bird hit at Kolkata Airport while landing at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport on Monday morning. As no major damage could be traced, the flight took off for Dhaka around 12 pm.

According to the sources, on Monday morning, around 10:30 am, an aircraft of Biman Bangladesh coming from Dhaka was about to land at NSCBI Airport. After the landing gear was opened, the pilot felt a hit below the front door of the aircraft. Immediately, the Air Traffic Control (ATC)

was informed. Upon receiving the information, the ATC officials arranged for an immediate landing of the aircraft. Emergency measures were taken. Around 10:30 am the flight landed safely and the passengers were evacuated. There were 162 passengers and seven crew members on board.

The aircraft was declared grounded immediately. Later, the engineers checked with the aircraft for damages. As no major damage could not be identified, the flight was given the clearance to take off. The aircraft then took off from Kolkata for Dhaka around 12 pm.

Significantly, the number of bird hit incidents are increasing in Kolkata as garbage is being dumped in the adjacent areas. In several occasions, the Airport Authority met with the civic bodies requesting removal of garbage from the area. Though municipalities and corporation in the adjacent areas of NSCBI Airport strictly ordered residents not to dump garbage, no one bothers.