By Express News Service
VISAKHAPATNAM: Around 150 passengers on board a Hyderabad-bound IndiGo flight had a miraculous escape on Sunday night as the aircraft hit a wild boar just before it took off from Visakhapatnam airport.
The wild boar that strayed into the runway in the dark came under the rear wheel of the aircraft at around 10.45 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 had 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 a fire. To avoid the risk, he exhausted the fuel by hovering in the sky for nearly an hour and landed safely only after the fuel in the tank came down to a minimum,” an official of IndiGO Airlines said, adding that the flight resumed its journey an hour later and landed in Hyderabad safely at around 12.15 am on Monday.
Vizag airport officials said, the IndiGo flight from Delhi landed in Vizag at 10 pm. After refuelling and maintenance services, the flight with around 150 passengers on board took off from Vizag to Hyderabad at around 10.45 pm.After the pilot made an emergency landing on the Vizag runway, the IndiGo and airport staffers, along with the security wing and technical support teams examined the wheels, the airport officials said. “The technical team found that the flesh of the wild boar was stuck to the rear wheel of the aircraft, hindering its free rotation. They cleaned it and checked the aircraft again before signalling for its safe take-off,” the officials said.
Earlier, allegations related to wild animals straying into the Vizag airport runway in the nights were made. As the airport is under the control of Indian Navy, it is responsible for the maintenance of the runway while the airport authorities deal with the administration. After the incident, Vizag airport director G Prakash Reddy wrote to the Indian Navy, Visakhapatnam collector and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), requesting the authorities to initiate measures to clear the vegetations near the runway. “We have requested them to undertake the cleaning works near the runway area to prevent the repeat of such incidents,” airport director said.
