Ahmedabad: In the past ten days, three bird hits have been reported at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPI), just as the monsoon season started. They thrive in the grass on the SVPI airport campus. Sources also said the airport authorities had been clearing bags of bitter apples, a wild plant that grows in the grass on the airport campus, for a month.
On Friday morning, an Indigo Airlines flight to Bengaluru was hit by a bird at around 9 a.m., causing serious damage to its engine. “It couldn’t be determined which bird hit the plane, but it was certainly a sizeable bird that destroyed the engine blade,” a source said. “The incident occurred as the plane was accelerating to take off. All 220 passengers were flown out safely and flown to Bengaluru on another plane. ”
Three of the five bird hits in 2021 were reported after the monsoons began. A researcher who was involved in bird and animal watching studies at the city airport said, “Dragons, which are birds of prey, are responsible for 80% of bird hits at the city airport.” The researcher continued, “They also hunt flying termites.”
The researcher said regular mowing of grass and spraying of insecticides are necessary to curb the termite problem.
Other birds that frequently encounter planes at the city airport are lapwing and pigeons. Sources said red-lapwing were found nesting at the city’s airport a few years ago.
All three bird hits were reported to the civil aviation authority, the General Directorate for Civil Aviation (DGCA), in accordance with the protocol.
