An Air Arabia flight from Sharjah was hit by a peacock while landing with 106 passengers in Coimbatore International Airport in the early hours of Sunday.
Sources at the airport said that the bird hit occurred when the flight (G9 413) landed in the airport at 3.50 a.m.
A hole developed in the wing of A 320 aircraft following the bird hit. The flight landed safely and all passengers were deboarded.
Following the bird hit, the airline cancelled the return flight to Sharjah (G9 414) which was scheduled to depart at 4.30 a.m. Sources added that alternative arrangements have been made for the passengers bound to Sharjah, many of them Hajj pilgrims.
Officials at the airport said that Air Arabia has sought the help of the technical team to rectify the hole in the aircraft to resume service.
Meanwhile, the immigration officials at the aiport detained a passenger named Kuyllath Hakeem of Malappuram on arrival on the same flight based on request from the Kerala police. It is learnt that Hakkim faces a non-bailable warrant in Malappuram.