Close shave: Pilot lands plane safely after bird-hit

Passengers of Jet Airways Mumbai-Jodhpur flight number 9W414 were horrified to notice sparks coming out of one of the plane’s engines after the massive Boeing 737 class aircraft suffered multiple bird hits while descending at the Jodhpur Airport on Friday afternoon. Reportedly three birds had collided with the aircraft, however, the pilot Parniti Thakkar managed to land the flight with 167 passengers on board to safety.

According to the passengers, the pilot stopped the descent and took the aircraft to a higher altitude as soon the bird hit occurred, thus avoiding loss of control while landing.

There was panic among the passengers as some of them witnessed sparks flying out of the left engine. The flight crew, though, was able to prevent panic on board and kept the passengers, some of who complained of burn odour, confined to seats.

Meanwhile, the pilot was constantly in communication with the air traffic control over the situation. After ensuring that the engine though damaged was not on fire, she decided to proceed with landing. By that time, arrangements were made at the runway to meet any untoward situation.

“The plane landed safely at 1:40 PM and all passengers deboarded without any complication” said director of Jodhpur Civil Airport GK Khare.

However, for the passengers it was a hard to forget the nightmare, even as they appreciated the crew’s efforts. The airplane, meanwhile, was taken in for repairs and could not resume its return flight scheduled to Mumbai.

IN SAFE HANDS

Reportedly three birds had collided with the aircraft, however, the pilot Parniti Thakkar managed to land the flight with 167 passengers on board to safety.