NEW DELHI: An eagle hovering around one of the runways of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday morning caused a delay in the landing of two flights. One flight each of IndiGo and Air India were asked by airport authorities to delay their landing until the runway was cleared.
The incident is reported to have occurred around 11.45 am.
A Directorate General of Civil Aviation source told The New Indian Express, "The go-around was given by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Officer due to eagle activity. The normal process has been followed."
A Delhi airport source said, "There was some bird activity reported on Runway 27. Hence, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) asked an Air India flight (AI 1892) from Patna which was on its way to the runway for its scheduled landing at 11.53 am and an Indigo flight (6E 2088) from Madurai which was scheduled to land at 11.54 am to have a go-around."
There is a fixed pathway in place for such go-arounds. "The flights took the route and landed 10 to 15 minutes later."
It is not clear how the eagle finally left the runway. "There is generally a procedure laid down in the case of birds or animals found on the runway. We use No-smoke guns or flare guns to make them leave. It is not clear what was done today," he said.
The source added, "Every airport resorts to the go-around procedure. This is done only in the interest of the safety of the passengers and the aircraft."
Bird hit and airports
Delhi airport has witnessed 695 bird-hit incidents in the last five years, which is the highest in the country, the Minister of State for Aviation Murlidhar Mohol told the Rajya Sabha last year.
The Civil Aviation Ministry also informed the Lok Sabha that the number of bird-hit incidents reported in airports across the country in 2025 was 1,782, a big increase from 1,278 recorded in 2024.