Air India Airbus A320 Suffers Birdstrike at Trivandrum Airport

In a sudden turn of events, an Airbus A320 of Air India was forced to return to its origin airport after a birdstrike damaged its engine. With this incident, the number of grounded aircraft belonging to TATA Group continues to rise.

Air India Airbus A320 Returns to Trivandrum

Airbus A320 registered as VT-EXD was all set to operate flight AI 802 from Trivandrum to Delhi. The boarding process was complete and the aircraft received departure clearance. Originally scheduled for departure at 07:20 PM, the aircraft finally departed at 08:45 PM.

During its takeoff, a crane flew into the left engine of the aircraft. After following the necessary checklists, the pilots informed the Air Traffic Control regarding the bird strike and requested returning vectors for the airport. After climbing to 5,000 ft, the aircraft took a U-turn and elevated its altitude to 8,700 ft for holding. It finally landed back at Trivandrum Airport at 09:20 PM.

All 140 passengers onboard the aircraft are safe. As this was an emergency landing, fire tenders were on standby at the airport. CISF was promptly deployed at the scene to avoid any mishappening. After landing, all the passengers were safely deboarded.

When a foreign object like a bird or stone flies into the engine, it may result in damage to fan blades, and compressor blades, or may even enter the combustion chamber. This can lead to engine imbalance, loss of power, or even a complete engine failure. In this case, the bird was a crane, which is of course large. Hence, we can expect significant damage.

Aircraft Involved

The aircraft involved in this incident is an Airbus A320-200ceo registered as VT-EXD. With MSN 6724, this aircraft is 8.8 years old. It was delivered firsthand to Air India on 14 September 2015. It is powered by two CFM56 engines.

According to a log from aviation-safety.net, this aircraft was previously involved in one more incident. In 2017, this aircraft and an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 were involved in a ground collision at Delhi Airport, which damaged the sharklet of this A320. This incident occurred due to improper stand allocation.

This incident comes just a few days after an Emirates Boeing 777 collided with a flock of flamingos during landing at Mumbai Airport. During the approach above the Ghatkopar region, it was involved in a bird strike, which resulted in the killing of more than 40 flamingos. The aircraft too sustained damage and has been declared AOG at Mumbai Airport.

Conclusion

An Air India Airbus A320 registered as VT-EXD was involved in a bird strike, resulting in significant damage to the engines. After takeoff from Trivandrum Airport, the airliner returned within 1 hour of departure. The aircraft made a safe emergency landing, with fire tenders on standby. Kudos to the pilots and cabin crew members, all 140 passengers are safe.

Have you ever been involved in such birdstrike incidents? Discuss in the comment section.