Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s helicopter made an emergency landing in Varanasi after it collided with a bird minutes after take-off on Sunday (June 26, 2022). CM Yogi was traveling in a Bell 412 EP helicopter used by the Uttar Pradesh government for VIP movement. The Bell 412 is from the family of helicopters made by the United States-based Bell Industries, which are known for making luxury helicopters. While the chopper itself was reported to have a technical fault, preliminary reports suggest that the helicopter had to make an emergency landing due to a bird strike.
This is one of several bird strike incidents reported from across India, forcing several commercial aircraft to make emergency landings. While these incidents are common and frequent in all parts of the world, back to back incidents from India have focused on the reasons behind bird attacks and how to avoid them?
UP- UP CM in Varanasi@myogiadityanathEmergency landing of the helicopter. The pilot made an emergency landing due to the bird colliding at the time of take-off. Now Yogi will go from Varanasi to Lucknow by another plane. pic.twitter.com/TGSvqTbtiW— Vishal Pandey (@vishalpandeyk) 26 June 2022
Bird strikes have become more frequent due to the early signs of monsoon, as such incidents are more frequent with the onset of the season. Recently, two Indian airlines have experienced the same incident while flying domestically in the country.
Recently, a Delhi-bound IndiGo plane had to make an emergency landing after facing a bird strike, making it the first incident. Another incident happened very soon after the accident. In the second incident, a SpiceJet aircraft had a similar fate when it had to make an emergency landing at Patna airport after a bird hit one of its engines. According to reports, smoke and fire were seen coming out of the aircraft’s engine.
But you must be thinking that what does this have to do with monsoon? With the onset of monsoons and rains, the flight patterns of birds take a toll on their fate. However, recent events are not the only reason for this.
Depending on the expert’s point of view, airport infrastructure is also to blame as hazards such as a short runway, uncut trees, open drains, and waterlogging are some of the problems that aircraft face during their flight. .
To give a precise example of the incident, the DGCA says India’s airports faced 1,200 bird strikes and 29 animal strike incidents in 2018. This implies that the animals around the airport are a major threat to the aircraft as well as the animals.
with agency input