Back

25 Jul 2008, 0226 hrs IST, Neha Lalchandani, TNN

Bird-hit plane catches fire, close shave for 252

Passengers use an emergency chute to escape from a plane at IGI (TOI Photo).

NEW DELHI: As many as 241 passengers and 11 crew members of an Air Mauritius flight, headed for Mauritius, had a narrow escape on Thursday afternoon when a suspected bird-hit at IGI airport at the time of takeoff led the pilot to apply emergency brakes. This sparked a fire in the underbelly, which was quickly controlled. The passengers escaped by sliding down through three chutes amid emergency procedures.

According to sources, Flight MK 745, an Airbus 330-200, was to take off from the secondary runway at 1.30pm but was delayed due to bird activity. It finally began taxiing around 2.08pm. Passengers on the flight confirmed to TOI that their pilot had announced an initial 10-minute delay due to "bird activity".

"Our pilot had warned of birds on the runway which is why we did not get clearance. After 10 minutes or so, we were ready for takeoff. However, even as we gathered speed and were seconds away from being airborne, there was a loud thud and the entire plane shook violently and came to a sudden halt," said Vijay Kumar, heading a group of bankers who were travelling to Mauritius.

Sources said the engine of the aircraft was damaged by the bird-hit; possibly two birds were sucked in by the engine.