Sharjah-bound Air Arabia flight grounded in Coimbatore after bird hit

Airport authorities said a large bird, suspected to be a kite, hit one of the engines; the take-off was aborted and the passengers deplaned; flight engineers are working to repair the damage

The Air Arabia flight was bound for Sharjah from the Coimbatore International Airport. File photograph used for representational purposes only. | Photo Credit: File

 

An Air Arabia flight bound to Sharjah was grounded at the Coimbatore International Airport following a bird hit, during its take-off, on Monday morning. 

Airport authorities and a source with Air Arabia said that a large-sized bird, suspected to be a kite, hit one of the engines of the aircraft when it was taxiing on the runway for the take-off, at 7 a.m. 

The pilot aborted the take-off and the flight, with 162 passengers and crew on board, was moved to an apron. The passengers were deplaned from the aircraft. 

Airport Director S. Senthil Valavan said that flight engineers were attending to the aircraft to fix the damage caused by the bird hit.