Close shave for AI passengers again

Indore: Passengers onboard an Air India plane had a close shave for the second consecutive day as it suffered a bird-hit while landing at the city airport today.

Two tyres of the same aircraft, with 106 people on board, were found deflated on landing at the Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport yesterday, causing an alarm.

Air India's Mumbai-Indore-Bhopal-Delhi flight (IC-133) with 140 passengers and six crew members onboard was landing at the Devi Ahilyabai Airport when a bird hit the aircraft, Airport Director Vivek Upadhyaya said.

The pilot, however, managed to land the aircraft safely, he said.

The flight has now taken off for Bhopal after engineers found it airworthy, Air India Station Manager V V Gadgil said.

"Engineers inspected the plane and when everything was found normal, it was given permission to continue its onward journey," Gadgil said.