Pune: An Air India Express Delhi-Pune flight had to abort landing at Pune airport on Sunday afternoon over ‘adverse weather conditions’, the airline’s officials said. It then went around before landing safely. The flight (IX-1083) took off from Delhi at 10am with more than 100 flyers and was to land in Pune around 12.25pm. Pune airport’s director Santosh Dhoke did not comment to a text message sent to him on Sunday. “Due to adverse weather, the crew of one of our flights to Pune opted to make a go-around before landing safely. Our pilots are well-trained to manage such situations,” an Air India Express spokesperson said. The flight landed at 12.40pm. The airline did not mention any bird problem for the delay.
Local resident Ankit Bhadana wrote on his X handle that he spotted the aircraft, a Boeing 737Max aircraft, abort landing. “Just now, I spotted an Air India plane aborting its landing during the approach to Pune airport due to too many birds, most likely kites, in the air. It was a scary sight even for me watching from a distance,” he wrote.Speaking to TOI, Bhadana said, “I live in a society on Airport Road in Vimananagar and from my place one can see the approach funnel of the airport. I was in my balcony when I saw the aircraft which was about the land when suddenly some birds (kites), around 15-20 in number, came on to the flight path resulting in the aircraft taking off. When I saw this, I immediately posted it,” he said.Unusual bird activity near the runway has disrupted some flight movements in Pune this year. On May 20, passengers on board a Hyderabad-bound IndiGo aircraft waited for six hours for the ATC to signal that the runway was clear of birds. At least 2-3 more disruptions including diversion of flights were also reported the same month.
