Qatar Airways plane emergency-lands on bird-hit at Delhi

Airbus engine ingests birds, pilot shuts its down and radios ATC

BY A CORRESPONDENT
April 6, 2006

A bird-hit Qatar Airways Airbus A 330-200 had a precautionary landing at the Delhi airport yesterday. Qatar Airways flight QR233 had taken off from Delhi for Doha at 9.30 AM and was to reach Doha at 10.50 AM. The Qatar Airways aircraft suffered a bird-hit even as it took to sky. The birds were "ingested" by one of the engines, said a Qatar Airways statement. The pilot shut down the affected engine as a precautionary measure and informed the traffic control, requesting emergency landing.

A full emergency was declared at the Delhi airport and the airport was closed to all incoming and outgoing aircraft. Fire brigades, ambulances and medical personnel were put on high alert. With the airport practically cleared, the Airbus carrying 199 passengers and 12 crew members touched down safely, without any injuries reported. Immediately, the plane was taken to a remote bay, where the passengers and cargo were offloaded. Passengers, Qatar Airways and the airport authorities heaved a sigh of relief as the plane was safely evacuated. For around 45 minutes, the busy airport was closed to traffic.

Many Indian airports face a chronic problem of birds on the runway. On many runways, airport authorities burst crackers to scare away birds and avoid bird hits. The Mumbai airport is a classic case, which is practically surrounded and encroached upon by slums. Open disposal of food stuff attracts birds to the airports. At the Thiruvananthapuram airport too, open disposal of garbage around the airport premises has been a major headache for the airport authorities. Now, it seems the Delhi airport standards are no better.

"Birds often cause hazardous situations to aircraft during take off and landing, and as such safety measures such as a single engine shut-down are often taken as a precautionary course of action," said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker. "The safety and security of our passengers will always be our number one priority," he added.

The premium airline, in a statement claimed that Qatar Airways is the first airline in the world to pass the new International Air Transport Associations (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), passing with 100 percent compliance. Air India, the national carrier of India, has recently failed this test.