Kolkata-bound AirAsia flight aborts take-off in Lucknow following bird hit

An AirAsia flight from Lucknow to Kolkata made an emergency landing at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow on Sunday afternoon after being hit by a bird during the take-off.

An Airbus aircraft of AirAisa with around 170 passengers was deployed for the Kolkata operation, all of whom are safe, confirmed the airline.

“The pilot of an AirAsia flight aborted take-off after a suspected bird hit on the runway at around 11 am. This occurred before the flight could lift off. The aircraft returned to the bay and all the passengers were deboarded safely," spokesperson of the airport Rupesh Kumar told PTI.

"Flight i5-319, scheduled to operate from Lucknow to Kolkata, encountered a bird-strike during the take-off roll. As a result, the aircraft returned to bay and was grounded for detailed inspection. Impacted guests were attended to and we are making all efforts to mitigate the impact on the integrity of other scheduled operations," an Air Asia spokesperson reported to news agency ANI.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused due to circumstances beyond our control," added the spokesperson.

A video of passengers deboarding the plane has appeared on social media.

While incidents of bird-hit, flight diversions because of bad weather are fairly commonplace, this incident comes at a time when the Indian aviation industry is caught in a spiral of news for a series of unfortunate events including disorderly behaviour of passengers, particularly set off by the Air India urination incident.