Pilot aborts take-off after bird-hit; propellers damaged, tyres burst
VASCO, NOV 11
About 218 passengers, including 10 crew members, on board a Moscow-bound chartered flight had a narrow escape, when the flight suffered a bird hit on the runway at Dabolim Airport early Thursday morning.
According to Flag Officer of Goa Naval Area Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, the incident occurred at 7.30 am when the Aerofloat-operated flight was taxiing on the runway for take-off with 218 passengers on board.
It is learnt that immediately after the bird hit, the pilot of the Moscow-bound flight applied brakes, resulting in tyre burst, which created panic among passengers and the aviation authority.
“While the aircraft was accelerating for take-off, the pilot reported problem in one of its engines due to the bird hit. The pilot decided to reject the take-off and applied brakes that resulted in emitting of smoke from the tyres,” informed Pillai.
“After the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) staff observed some smoke from the wheels of the aircraft, they immediately alerted the pilot. Four crash fire tenders were deployed to cool the temperature in the aircraft brakes,” added Pillai.
Pillai further informed that all the passengers and crew members were safely offloaded from plane and later the aircraft was towed towards military dispersal for smooth operation of other flights.
However, due to prompt action by the ATC, it averted the delay of all civil traffic, as most of the flights operated as per schedule.
One charter flight ‘Trans Aero 747’, which was waiting to land at Dabolim Airport with 336 passengers on board, landed as per schedule at 8.41 am, after the bird hit flight was towed from the runway.
The flight, which has been grounded, was inspected later in the day, informed sources at the airport.
Sources further added that four engine blades propellers were damaged due to the bird hit.
The passengers heaved a sigh of relief, as they were accommodated in two separate charter flights that had arrived from Russia on Thursday morning.
Of the 208 passengers, who were offloaded from the Aerofloat flight that suffered bird hit, 160 passengers were accommodated in another Aerofloat flight, while the remaining passengers were accommodated in Trans Aero flight.
Sources informed that it is expected that officials of Aerofloat will arrive in Goa on Saturday, as the aircraft has sustained extensive damage.
It may be recalled that in September, within a fortnight, four bird-hit cases were reported at Dabolim Airport, as two Air Arabia flights were victims of the bird hit, while Kingfisher and Indian Airline flights too suffered bird hits during landing at Dabolim Airport.
