AHMEDABAD: An Airbus A320 aircraft, operating a Bengaluru-bound Vistara flight, suffered a bird-hit that broke three turbine blades of its right engine just as it was accelerating for take off at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport on Tuesday morning. The 102 fliers and eight crew members on board had quite a scare but the pilots managed to abort the take-off safely.This is the second bird-hit at the city airport in less than a month. On June 19, a Kolkata-bound flight with 175 persons on board had suffered a bird-hit at SVPI.Sources at SVPI said the bird-strike occurred just as the aircraft was accelerating. Airport staff found the dead bird, a kite, on the runway. Three turbine blades of the right engine were broken by the impact. “Thankfully, the pilot did not have to brake too sharply. Had the aircraft reached a higher speed when the pilot was forced to brake, a tyre could have burst due to the friction involved,” said an airport source. Officials said the aircraft was later grounded for mandatory checks.The airline confirmed the bird-hit but did not divulge details about how the fliers were accommodated on other flights.Sources at the airport said the fliers were put on other flights to Bengaluru, but the process took two or three hours.

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