Air India Express cancels Vijayawada-Bengaluru flight after bird strike on runway

An Air India Express flight bound for Bengaluru was cancelled on Thursday after it suffered a bird hit at Vijayawada airport, an airline official said.

The incident occurred when an eagle struck the nose of the aircraft while it was taxiing on the runway for takeoff. The official clarified that the bird hit happened before takeoff.

Following the incident, the airline cancelled the flight and arranged alternate travel options for the affected passengers, the official added.

A day ago, an Air India Express flight bound for Sharjah was held up at Trichy airport in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday morning due to a technical snag, leaving 176 passengers stranded on board for several hours.

The flight, scheduled to depart at 4.45 am, could not take off as engineers attended to the issue. Airport officials confirmed that passengers were made to remain on the tarmac before being safely deboarded later.

Authorities assured that necessary steps were being taken to address the problem and minimise inconvenience to travellers.

- Ends