(Image source from: x.com/IndiGo6E)

On Monday, an IndiGo flight encountered a bird strike and had to make an emergency landing at Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi, according to an official statement. The aircraft, which was en route from Patna to Ranchi with 175 passengers on board, landed without causing any injuries, as reported by officials. They mentioned that the plane was approximately 4,000 feet in the air when a vulture collided with it, leading to some damage. “The IndiGo flight experienced a bird strike near Ranchi. At the time of the incident, it was around 10 to 12 nautical miles from the airport, flying at altitudes between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. The pilot had no choice but to conduct an emergency landing,” said R R Maurya, Director of Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi.

He confirmed that all passengers were unharmed, although the aircraft sustained a dent due to the vulture impact. Engineers are currently evaluating the extent of the damage. The incident occurred at 1:14 PM, prompting the pilot to seek clearance from Air Traffic Control (ATC) before landing at Ranchi Airport. Another official noted that the aircraft was originally slated to continue on to Kolkata after arriving in Ranchi. IndiGo representatives chose not to comment on the situation. In a different event, an IndiGo flight traveling from Raipur to Delhi faced significant turbulence caused by a dust storm in the capital on Sunday evening, which led to the pilot aborting the landing at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

On that same evening, parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) experienced a dust storm that was followed by light rainfall, shortly after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted inclement weather with heavy winds. After several loops in the air, Flight 6E 6313 successfully landed at Delhi airport, with the pilot explaining that wind speeds reaching up to 80 km/h were the reason behind the aborted landing attempt.