Delhi-bound Air India flight makes emergency landing in Kannur after bird-hit, all passenger SAFE

A Delhi-bound Air India aircraft was forced to land at the Kannur International Airport on September 26 (Monday) due to a bird-hit soon after take-off. The flight originated from Kozhikode and landed at Kannur Airport before flying to its end destination at the Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. However, soon after the take off, a bird hit forced the pilots to make an emergency landing in Kannur. The flight was carrying 135 passengers, 85 from Kozhikode and 50 from Kannur. All of them are reported safe and lodged in hotels in Kannur while the Tata owned airline is making alternate travelling arrangements. 

The aircraft is expected to leave for the national capital, after repairs, by afternoon on September 27. An Air India official at the airport said that of the total 135 passengers, some had cancelled their tickets and took an Indigo flight, while some others had re-scheduled their travel leaving around 85 persons who were accommodated in hotels in Kannur.

"Of the 85, 24 were foreign bound passengers and they were sent to their respective destinations in Dubai and Bahrain on Air India Express flights yesterday and this morning. "Now 61 domestic passengers are presently here and they would be sent to Delhi on the same plane once it is repaired," the official said.

The official also said that seven engineers arrived here from Delhi and they are presently examining and repairing the aircraft's engines which had remains of the birds which hit it.
After the repair work is completed, they will carry out engine run-ups to ascertain if the aircraft was flight worthy and if all goes well, the flight is tentatively scheduled to take-off at 1:30pm, he said. "It could also be later than that," he added.

The airport SHO also confirmed these developments and told PTI that the flight will take off only after it is certified fit to fly. The flight with 135 passengers had originated from Kozhikode and landed in the Kannur airport before flying to Delhi.

(With inputs from PTI)