Air India flight from Delhi carrying 164 passengers suffers bird hit in Patna

An Air India flight from Delhi with 164 passengers aboard suffered a bird strike while landing at Patna on Monday morning, the second such incident involving the airline at the Jay Prakash Narayan Airport in Bihar’s capital in a week.

Officials said flight AI 1741 landed safely at 7.43am, even as the airport authorities activated emergency landing protocol and deployed fire and allied services as a precaution. The AI 1741 pilot reported a suspected bird hit near the aircraft’s right turbine while approaching the runway, airport officials said. An inspection after landing confirmed the bird strike, but found no damage to the engine.

The aircraft was cleared for its return flight to Delhi after mandatory checks. The return service, AI 1852, with 160 passengers, was delayed by 79 minutes and took off at 10.09am, against its scheduled departure time of 8.45am.

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Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha, scheduled to travel by AI 1852, rescheduled his return to Delhi to Air India’s afternoon flight (AI 2524).

The bird strike came amid concerns over increasing avian and animal activity around the airport. Officials found the remains of a bat weighing around 1.5kg on the runway during a routine inspection before the start of flight operations on Sunday, people familiar with the matter said. No flight reported a bird hit the previous evening, they added.

An Air India Delhi-Patna flight reported a bird strike on August 17, grounding the aircraft for two days. Maintenance engineers were flown in from Delhi to repair the aircraft, which was cleared for operations after inspection and approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Officials said the risk of bird activity tends to increase during the monsoon as grass along the runway grows rapidly. Grass mowing can attract avian species because of insects exposed in the process, they said.

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The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has deployed chasers equipped with firearms and firecrackers to keep birds away from the operational area. Officials said the meat shops in the Phulwarisharif area surrounding the airport remain a major challenge, potentially attracting birds and posing a continuing safety risk.

AAI officials declined to comment on the recent increase in bird-hit incidents at Patna airport. There was no response from airport director Chandra Pratap Dwivedi.

In 2025, the government told Parliament that Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport reported the highest number of bird-hit incidents across the country over the past five years.

The Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) regulations mandate Wildlife Hazard Management Plans (WHMP), which include procedures to identify and mitigate wildlife-related risks to aircraft. Bird repellents, rodent control measures, habitat and insect management, biological and chemical control methods, and awareness and collaboration initiatives are adopted as part of these guidelines.