Over 180 people aboard a SpiceJet plane had a narrow escape on Tuesday when a bird hit the aircraft, damaging its nose, while landing here.
“There was a case of bird hit with the SpiceJet airplane SG 160 at 11.10 a.m. on Tuesday. Thankfully, everyone is safe on the plane,” R.N. Shinde, Director of the Srinagar airport, told The Hindu . Mr. Shinde said 176 passengers were on board the Jammu-Srinagar flight.
“The plane was grounded. It did not take off for its next scheduled flight [back to Jammu],” Mr. Shinde said.
A SpiceJet official in Srinagar said engineers had been flown in from Delhi to look at the plane.
While the authorities said they had accommodated passengers to Jammu on other flights, some complained that they had been asked to come back on Wednesday.
“I spent all my day at the airport hoping to be adjusted in some other SpiceJet plane, but it was a waste of time,” Suhail Ahmad, a passenger scheduled to fly on SG 160 from Srinagar to Jammu, told The Hindu .
