How Bird Strikes On IndiGo And Air India Flights Highlight Aviation Safety Challenges: Here’s What You Need to Know Right Now

Published on July 9, 2025

Bird strikes are amongst the most regular but unexpected hazards that face the aviation industries today. Despite significant strides in aviation technologies and standards of flight safety, bird strikes still pose a significant threat to flight safety, most prominently when taking off and landing. In this article, we will look at the nature of bird strikes, prevention and mitigation methods, and current efforts towards enhancing flight safety.

Bird Strikes: A Persistent Threat

A bird strike is an incident in which a bird hits an airplane while in motion. Although normally occurring when birds are heading towards the airplane, bird strikes can occur and inflict various damages on airplane structures, including engines, windshields, and fuselage. Severe instances of bird strikes involve hits by birds on engines, which causes engine failure, a scenario that can pose a hazard compelling an airplane to land back at the airport or make an emergency landing.

Bird strikes are most common during takeoff and landing because, during those stages, aircraft are flying low, which makes them more susceptible to collision with birds. Airports near large water bodies, marshes, and farms—areas where there are more birds—remain most vulnerable to bird strikes. Current aircraft are themselves immune to some impacts emanating in bird strikes, but their impacts vary widely, ranging anywhere from light damage to great threats when it comes to safety.

IndiGo Flight 6E 5009 – Patna, India (July 9, 2025)

It occurred on July 9, 2025, when there was a situation involving one IndiGo Airbus A320 that was operating flight 6E 5009, towards Delhi. Shortly after departure from Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport, Patna, the aircraft experienced a bird strike. Fortunately, there were no passenger injuries, but the aircraft landed safely in Patna on a precautionary basis.

Bird strike, which is a regular but unexpected hazard in flying, pushed the crew to take action right away. When a bird impacts an airplane’s engine, windshield, or fuselage, it can have an effect on its safety, but for them, crew training and the airplane’s ability to react allowed them to execute a smooth landing. Though shaken, things were handled calmly, and all 169 aboard were unharmed.

This case brings into focus prevention of airport bird strikes and the rigorous safety measures that airline businesses undertake to ensure travelers’ safety. Bird strikes are relatively frequent in India, observes the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), most visibly at airports that are within or near areas that have high bird populations. As a protective measure, the DGCA stands uncompromising in applying rigorous regulations on matters of safety and encourages airports to have rigorous bird control measures that reduce cases of strikes.

Air India Flight AI 2454 – Thiruvananthapuram, India (June 2025)

In yet another case of bird strike, Air India’s Airbus A320, which was en route to land after New Delhi, experienced a bird strike in its final approach towards Thiruvananthapuram airport in June 2025. It caused concern, but pilots were able to maintain full control of the aircraft and landed safely at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.

Following the strike, the jet was right away grounded for a close examination, which falls under routine proceedings after such events. Fortunately, nobody got injured, and the security of all 155 people onboard was not in question. Passengers were rebooked on other aircraft, and Air India made all relevant arrangements such that people were not unduly disrupted.

Such a bird attack, which occurred in the very busy airspace of Thiruvananthapuram, indicates that aviation still experiences difficulty in areas where wildlife proliferates. Considering that the airport is situated near marshlands and beaches, which are homes to various species of birds, there are more possibilities of such attacks occurring. To mitigate this, there are stringent processes of wildlife management in place at the airport and in airline operations, involving the use of bird radars and habitat control.

Safety Preparations For Flights And Preventative Methods

While there are resultant hazards that occur due to bird strikes, there have also been several efforts by the aviation industry to reduce threats emanating due to wildlife strikes. Airports all over the world employ various bird control measures to reduce probabilities of bird strikes. These measures are usually a blend of wildlife management, bird radar systems, and environmental adjustments.

Wildlife Management:

Airports are also involved in wildlife management through their control of populations in and around their installations. This includes their use of trained birds of prey, for instance, falcons or hawks, to chase away smaller birds. Other approaches include wildlife habitat management, for instance, through mowing grass to reduce airports’ appeal to nesting birds or their use of sound deterrents or other visual deterrents.

Bird Radar Systems:

Radar systems that can spot birds close to aircraft have also been employed by most airports. These systems are utilized to ascertain the location, size, and movement of birds, which can improve flight crew understanding of their likely collision spot. Airports can better predict bird movement and take prevention measures by installing bird radar.

Better Plane Design:

Plane manufacturers continue to design and build aircraft taking into consideration impacts by birds. Current aircraft are rigorously tested to withstand impacts by birds, such as in sensitive areas including windscreens, engines, and fuselage. Though there’s no aircraft that totally resists impacts of a bird strike, there are efforts towards designing aircraft that will continue to fly efficiently and safely taking a collision into consideration.

Pilot Procedures and Training:

Pilots are specifically trained to handle emergency situations, including bird hits. Pilots are instructed during their training about what they should do in case there is a bird strike, e.g., correct procedures for verifying whether there is damage, maintaining aircraft control, and returning to the airport for a controlled landing. Pilots upon encountering a bird strike are specifically trained to stay alert, assess the situation immediately, and stick to protocol for passenger safety.

Post-Incident Inspections:

After a bird strike incident, damaged planes are thoroughly inspected to assess potential damage. This ensures that the plane is airworthy before it can be allowed to continue flying. Engines, windshield, fuselage, and other essential regions of a plane are thoroughly inspected to confirm that they are functioning adequately and are safe.

Future Development And Ongoing Work Toward Bird Strike Reduction

While prevention measures have improved over time, much more remains to be done in reducing risks due to such incidents. Regulators, both international standards-setting bodies such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and local standards-setting bodies such as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India, are constantly enhancing directives and regulations for safety regarding bird strikes.

Recent technologies, such as the adoption of AI-powered bird detection systems and machine learning algorithms that predict bird movement, have promise in helping to improve prevention of bird strikes. Airports and airlines are also becoming increasingly committed to responsible action to make air travel safer and more environmentally responsible, balancing safety imperatives with environmental responsibility.