Dog died on runway; IndiGo, Spicejet blame each other
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought a report from Mumbai International Limited (MIAL) on the incident involving death of a dog on the runway. Birds and stray animals pose a big threat to flights as they can cause injury to the aircraft and consequently lead to accidents.
On October 19, the pilot of an IndiGo aircraft scheduled to depart for Kochi from Mumbai airport informed the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATC) about a dog crossing the primary runway. Upon checking, ATC could not find any dog. However, after the IndiGo flight took off, a dead dog was found from the runway. Upon reporting the incident to DGCA, the latter asked for a report from Mumbai airport.
A senior officer from DGCA said, “Every time such an instance comes to our notice, we ask for a report because these birds and animals can harm aircrafts. This time, a dog died on the runway so we asked for a report that would clarify whether the aircraft touched the dog. Such touch could lead to a mishap.”
However, even before DGCA asked for a report from MIAL, concerns were raised whether the Spicejet flight scheduled to land immediately after departure of the Indigo flight had hit the dog.
MIAL’s primary report said, “It was the Indigo flight which allegedly came in touch with the dog” but sources revealed that as of now, no conclusion had been drawn either by DGCA or MIAL. Confirming this, a senior officer from DGCA said, “A probe has been ordered and the final report is awaited and it can come any time in the near future.” While a senior official from MIAL said, “As of now, we have not drawn any final conclusion which puts any airline at fault.”
When The Asian Age approached the official spokesperson of Spicejet, they denied involvement of their aircraft in the incident. Whereas the official spokesperson of Indigo said, “On October 19, at the time of rotation and seconds before take-off, pilot in command of the IndiGo flight 6E 297 en-route Mumbai to Kochi observed a dog on the runway. As the aircraft was in high speed, upon take-off, the pilot immediately informed the Mumbai ATC and filed a report with IndiGo’s safety department. As per procedure, on arrival in Kochi, a thorough check was carried out of the aircraft which indicated that it did not come in contact with the dog. The incident has also been reported to the DGCA, which is further investigating the case.”
“Stray animals on airport premises including birds are a menace in many Indian airports and pose a risk to aircraft operations. We will again be writing to the authorities to control animal activity on airport grounds to prevent huge costs to aircraft operators as well as mitigate passenger inconvenience.”
