Domestic airlines reported 526 safety issues due to bird hits between 2018-2022: Govt

Various domestic airlines have reported as many as 526 safety issues due to bird hits between 2018 and October 2022, Parliament was informed on Monday. Under civil aviation norms, aerodrome operators have to take necessary action to identify, manage and mitigate the risk of collision between wildlife and aircraft, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

According to the data presented by the minister, IndiGo and SpiceJet reported 196 and 64 safety issues, respectively, owing to bird hits. The number of such safety issues reported by Go Air (now Go First) and Air Asia stood at 60 and 51, respectively during the period.

Vistara reported 50 safety issues related to bird hits in the period and Air India 49, as per the data.

Similarly, the number of safety issues on account of bird hits reported by the erstwhile Jet Airways and Jetlite during the period stood at 22 and 3, and by Air India Express at 12.

The number of such safety issues reported by Alliance Air and Blue Dart were 7 and 6, respectively.

The newest carrier Akasa Air, as well as Truejet and Star Air accounted for 2 such cases each, as per the data.

The minister further said DGCA has issued several regulations and guidelines for management of potential wildlife hazard at licensed airports to ensure safety of air operations.