Weird Incident: Plane Hits Wild Boar on Runway in India

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Passengers on board an Indian flight had a narrow escape when a wild boar, emerging from the bushes, was hit by the aircraft while it was taking off. The incident occurred at around 10 p.m. on Sunday when the wild boar ran into the flight path, hitting a rear wheel. The IndiGo flight was carrying passengers from the port city of Vishakapattanam to Hyderabad.

IndiGo officials confirmed in a statement after the incident that although the pilot saw the animal approaching the runway, it was too late to abort the take-off. The crew reported the incident to Air Traffic Control (ATC) which made arrangements to clear the runway of the carcass of the wild boar so that the aircraft could return to the landing strip for damage-inspection. However, the plane could not immediately return as the damaged rear wheel failed to retract.

“The pilots decided it would be dangerous to land the plane with the fuel tank full and flew over the sea for 45 minutes burning fuel before landing back at Vizag airport,” the IndiGo statement read.

The flight was originally scheduled to reach Hyderabad by 11.15 pm but it took off only at 1:00 am, and reached Hyderabad on Monday at 2.15 am.

The incident comes a little over a week after IndiGo airlines made news when its staffers were caught on camera brawling with a passenger who had just alighted the flight.