The Air Asia flight going from Lucknow to Kolkata had to make an emergency landing at the same airport after suffering a bird strike on Sunday afternoon. It is to be noted that the bird struck the plane during take-off, following which the plane returned to the Chaudhary Charan Sigh airport, and the passengers were deboarded. An Air Asia spokesperson later confirmed the news after the incident. It is to be noted that the flight was being conducted by the carriers Airbus A320 aircraft when the incident occurred, as per the data on Flightstats. The plane had 170 passengers onboard at the time of the incident.

In a statement to ANI, the airline’s spokesperson said, “Flight i5-319, scheduled to operate from Lucknow to Kolkata, encountered a bird strike during the take-off roll. As a result, the aircraft returned to the bay and was grounded for detailed inspection.” The airline further added, “Impacted guests were attended to, and we are making all efforts to mitigate the impact on the integrity of other scheduled operations.” Later on, the airline also apologised for the incident saying, “We apologise for the inconvenience caused due to circumstances beyond our control.”

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Bird strikes pose a serious threat to aircraft, frequently forcing emergency landings and occasionally even resulting in casualties. It is crucial to understand that bird strikes frequently happen close to airports. Specifically, the birds or animals strike the aircraft as it is nearer the ground, which occurs during takeoff, landing, low-altitude cruising, or as the aircraft is still ascending or falling.

It is easy to comprehend, using the principles of physics, how the weight and speed of a bird affect the amount of damage it causes to a plane. The damage to the plane is directly proportional and related to the bird’s weight and speed at the time of strike.