Buffalo hits SpiceJet Boeing-737 aircraft on Surat airport runway – 146 passengers safe

A buffalo hit a SpiceJet Boeing-737 aircraft on Surat airport runway as it was about to take-off for Delhi – fortunately, the 146 passengers on board were safe due to the timely evasive action taken by the pilots.
A high-level meeting convened by aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati have discussed the issue of stray animals at airports which is a common occurrence in India. Both the DGCA and Airports Authority of India are investigating this serious incident.
The aviation ministry has taken an immediate decision to send teams to all airports to inspect the perimeter fences and boundaries and ensure replacement of all barbed wires fences by boundary walls to prevent animals from straying into airports for grazing.
The target set is next three months – whether this timeframe is for dispatch of teams or for constructing boundary walls is not very clear.
It has also transpired that there are fish ponds in the vicinity of the runway – these attract birds and lead to another menace for aircraft because bird hits can destroy aircraft.
Animal intrusions at runways have been a common affair. Last month a jackal was trapped from near the Kochi runway. In May, 2012, a pig on Nagpur runway prevented an IndiGo aircraft from landing and the plane had to go around. Incidents of animals on runways in 2008 at Kolkata and Bangalore airport – initially the quartet of jackals looked like dogs from the cockpit of an aircraft readying for takeoff and it resulted in two other planes to hover above the airport for an extra 15 minutes and burn fuel worth about Rs 63,000 each.
On March 27, a Kingfisher Airlines aircraft ran into a dog on the runway of Bangalore airport during take-off – it resulted in the collapse of the nose landing gear. The crew evacuated the 25 passengers on board after the aircraft screeched to a halt.