SpiceJet plane hits buffalo on Surat runway

Kalanithi Maran’s SpiceJet Ltd, an Indian budget carrier hit the news headlines today as one of its Boeing co.737 aircraft hit a buffalo during a takeoff roll, prompting grounding of the plane.

None of the 140 passengers on board were injured. The plane suffered “significant damage” and the buffalo died, the airline said. Calls to Surat airport weren’t answered. This incident forced the airline to send the passengers to New Delhi on a separate flight. It took about an hour for the flight to get on the runway for take-off to Delhi.

In the moments after the incident there was much confusion between the airport authorities and the SpiceJet pilot as to which stray animal they had hit at around 7.25pm.
Sources at the airport said that it was a stray buffalo and that the impact was very heavy, with the aircraft sustaining a considerable amount of damage to its body.
“Stray animals are a growing menace in some airports,” the airline said. “SpiceJet flights from Surat will now be suspended after this incident.”

A PT Lion Mentari Airlines-operated plane hit a cow after landing in an Indonesian airport last year. The aircraft encountered three cows on the runway and the rear landing gear collided with one of them. In 2009, a Kingfisher Airlines Ltd plane hit a pig on the runway at Nagpur, India after landing, the Times of India reported. Another Kingfisher plane hit a dog in Bangalore that left it with a broken nose wheel while taking off in 2008.