Akasa Air's Boeing 737 MAX suffers damage after bird hit on Ahmedabad-Delhi flight

An Ahmedabad-Delhi Akasa Air plane suffered a bird strike during the climb, damaging the Radome of the newly inducted Boeing 737 Max plane. The incident happened on Thursday morning, according to India's aviation regulator DGCA. As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, operated by the recently launched budget airline Akasa Air, suffered a radome damage due to the bird hit at 1900 feet. In a statement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said: "Today, Akasa B-737-8 (Max) aircraft VT-YAF operating flight QP-1333 (Ahmedabad-Delhi) experienced a bird strike during the climb out passing 1900ft. Post landing at Delhi, radome damage was observed. Aircraft declared AOG (Aircraft on ground) at Delhi."

The aircraft landed safely and it has been grounded till inspection by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). As a result, the aircraft has been positioned for a detailed inspection. The subsequent flight has been impacted and our customer service team is assisting passengers and arrangements are being made to accommodate their journeys," read an official statement by Akasa Air.

"The Aircraft has been declared Aircraft On Ground (AOG) at Delhi," said a senior DGCA official. The aircraft suffered damage on the nose cone during climbing when a bird hit the aircraft. All passengers are safe, he added.

On October 15, a Bengaluru-bound Akasa Air flight returned to Mumbai airport due to a burning smell in the cabin, which later turned out to be due to a bird strike. A Radome is a body part fixed to protect nose-mounted radar in an airplane and is often called plane's nose, due to its conical shape. 

With agencies inputs