NEW DELHI: A Chandigarh-bound Go First flight returned to Ahmedabad airport due to a suspected bird hit after the takeoff on Thursday.
The A320 aircraft operating flight G8911 departed from Ahmedabad at 6.18am, climbed up to 14,000 feet to turn, completed a circuit, and landed back an hour later.
Arun Kumar, director general, civil aviation, said the left-hand engine was suspected to be hit.
"The air turn back is being investigated," he added.
A statement from Go First is awaited.
The Ahmedabad airport witnesses a high number of bird hits, though the numbers went down in the past two years as air traffic petered down during Covid.
Pre-pandemic though the number of bird hits reported at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport was high.
A large number of flights forced to return after the bird hit.
To reduce the number of these incidents, back then, the airport had procured specialised grass-cutting machines, which contain the chopped grass so that traces of insects and their larvae are not left on the ground for birds to feed on.
Specialised acoustic devices, including zone guns, hooters, and six shot launchers were also used in addition to traditional methods used by a team of bird chasers.
