IndiGo Flight to Ranchi Makes Emergency Landing After Vulture Strike, Aircraft Sustains Damage

An IndiGo flight heading to Ranchi had to make an emergency landing on Monday after a mid-air scare. Around 4,000 feet up, the plane was struck by a vulture, forcing the pilots to act quickly and bring the aircraft down safely. Thankfully, all 175 passengers on board were unharmed, though the plane did suffer some damage from the bird strike.

This wasn’t the only recent scare for the airline. Just a day earlier, another IndiGo flight—Flight 6E 6313 from Raipur to Delhi—ran into major turbulence due to a severe dust storm over the capital. The pilot was forced to abort the initial landing and had to circle the airport until conditions improved. The flight eventually landed safely.

A few weeks back, an IndiGo flight headed to Srinagar had quite a rough journey. Not long after taking off from Delhi, the plane flew into a powerful hailstorm near Pathankot, which ended up damaging its nose. In an effort to dodge the worst of the weather, the pilots asked if they could briefly enter Pakistani airspace—but both the Indian Air Force and Lahore ATC turned down the request. With no choice but to push through, the crew stayed calm and navigated through the storm. Thankfully, they managed to get everyone to Srinagar safely.