VISAKHAPATNAM: Around 150 passengers on board a Hyderabad-bound IndiGo flight had a miraculous escape on Sunday night after the aircraft hit a wild boar just before it took off at Visakhapatnam airport.
The wild boar that strayed into the runway in the dark came under the rear wheel of the aircraft at around 10.30 pm, the scheduled take-off time.
As the pilot could not halt the plane at once, it took off. However, he noticed that the wheels failed to withdraw.
"The pilot sensed that something hit the aircraft wheel and informed the same to the Air Traffic Control after the take-off. As the aircraft tank was full, the pilot did not land the flight immediately as it could lead to the fire. To avoid the risk, he burnt all the fuel by hovering the flight in the sky for more than an hour and then landed safely," an official of IndiGO Airlines said, adding that the flight resumed its journey an hour later and reached Hyderabad safely at around 12.15 am.
After the safe landing of the flight on Vizag runway, the IndiGo Airlines men, airport security wing and technical support teams rushed to the runway and found that the flesh of the wild boar hindered the free rotation of the wheel. The flight took off after the technical teams cleaned the wheels.