AHMEDABAD: As many as 95 Mumbai-bound passengers had a narrow escape on Saturday after the aircraft they were flying in suffered a bird-hit at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The incident caused minor damage to the airplane's engine. Indigo flight 6E-244 Ahmedabad-Mumbai took-off at 9:30 am from the airport and, at 9:45am, reported a bird-hit and landed back. Officials of Air Traffic Control (ATC) confirmed that two blades of the rotor were damaged on the left side and the aircraft had to be grounded. The flight had six crew members as well.

"Indigo's Mumbai bound flight was bird-hit during take-off. All the passengers were safe. There have been minor incidents of bird-hit earlier in the year but this is the first major incident as the flight was grounded," said R K Singh, airport director.

Indigo airlines officials confirmed that the flight suffered damage and was grounded at the city airport. All the passengers were accommodated in various Indigo flights and left from Ahmedabad by 1.30pm. The bird hit incidents have gone down in last two years but due to monsoon season there is an increase in the number of birds flocking at the airport. Maximum numbers of birds come from the side of Meghaninagar, Noblenagar and Asarwa. "Due to the recent rains, grass on the sides of the runway had grown big and are being cut down which, too, is attracting lot of birds. There were some minor incidents of bird-hit in July also," said an ATC official.