Air India Express plane suffers bird hit before take-off at Pune airport
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Mohammad Nadeem, the passenger on seat number 22D of the plane, told TOI, "Flames started coming out of the engine after it gained speed. Right after that, the pilot hit the brakes and the aircraft came to a screeching halt. The brakes were hit so hard that some passengers' cellphones were thrown off and a child almost fell from a woman's arms."
He said the aircraft rolled on the runway for approximately 15-20 seconds before coming to a screeching halt.
The runway length of the Pune airport is 2,535 metres (8,316 feet). Aviation experts told TOI that the average peak speed of aircraft like Airbus A320 before the take-off is 250-300 kmph.
"The speed of the aircraft is always decided by the pilot. There are three kinds of speeds — V1 (decision speed), VR (rotation speed) and V2 (take-off safety speed). V1 is the maximum speed limit at which a pilot can safely abort take-off in case of an emergency.
After the V1 limit, the take-off must be continued. The speed depends on factors like weather and load factor. The safety of the runway in Pune is the sole responsibility of the Indian Air Force," aviation expert Dhairyashil Vandekar said.
Last month, a bird hit was detected on an Air India's Delhi-Pune plane after it landed at the city airport. In June, an Air India Express flight from Bhubaneswar had to abort landing and make a go-around after its pilot spotted a dog on the runway.
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Nadeem, booked on the Air India' Pune-Bhubaneswar flight, said there was no announcement for around 5-10 minutes after the plane stopped on Wednesday afternoon. "Thereafter, the pilot told flyers about the incident over the PA (public address) system. He said one of the engines suffered substantial damage and the aircraft wouldn't fly. After some time, the plane returned to the bay. We were disembarked and taken back to the terminal building," he said.
TOI contacted the airline's spokesperson over the phone and sent him a WhatsApp message enquiring about the incident. But a reply was awaited till going to press.
A source in the airport said the right engine of the aircraft, an Airbus A-320, suffered damage. In a video uploaded by Nadeem, the pilot could be heard stating that five blades of the engine suffered damage. The pilot also said a large bird was spotted on the runway and it hit the plane's engine.
Nadeem said, "The airline said an alternative aircraft was being arranged for the flyers. I had a connecting flight to Delhi. Now, I will fly there directly from Pune around 1am on Thursday on another flight of the same airline."
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