Explained: From SpiceJet to IndiGo, why incidents of bird strike have increased recently?

With the onset of the early signs of monsoon, the incidents of the bird strike in India can be noticed to be more frequent in the form of two cases.

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Indian airlines have been involved in relatively more incidents involving an emergency landing because of a bird strike. Though these incidents are common in all parts of the world and occur quite frequently, recently, the incidents have become more frequent because of the early signs of monsoon, as with the onset of the season, such incidents tend to occur more. Recently, two Indian airlines experienced the same incident while performing a domestic flight in the country.

Recently, a Delhi-bound Indigo aircraft had to make an emergency landing after it suffered a bird strike making it the first incident. The mishap was followed by another incident in a very short duration of time. In the second incident, a SpiceJet aircraft met a similar fate when it had to make an emergency landing at the Patna Airport after a bird strike on one of its engines. Based on the reports, smoke and fire were seen coming out of the aircraft's engine.

But you might be wondering what it has to do with the monsoon? With the onset of the monsoon and rain, the flight pattern of the bird's changes leading them to an unfortunate fate. However, the recent incidents are not only because of this reason.

Based on the expert's view, the airport's infrastructure is also to be blamed as hazards like a short runway, uncut trees, open drains, and water logging are also some of the problems that the aircrafts face during their flight.

To give an exact example of the incident, DGCA says that in 2018 India airport faced 1,200 bird strikes and 29 animal strike incidents. It implies that the animals in the vicinity of an airport are a great threat to the aircraft as well as the animals themselves.