Coimbatore: Thanks to providence, a major aircraft disaster was averted in the textile city on Sunday when an 'Air Arabia' flight with 107 passengers on board from Sharjah suffered a bird hit and had developed a hole in the fuselage while landing at Coimbatore airport in the early hours.
Airport sources told DC that Air Arabia operates flights to Coimbatore on daily basis from Sharjah and the flight usually lands by 3.30 am. It flies back to Sharjah on the return journey at 4.40 am.
Early this morning, the in-coming flight from Sharjah was late by 30 minutes, sources said. A few minutes before landing, a peacock hit the left side wing and damaged the wing and fuselage of the aircraft, but luckily the pilot managed to land the flight safely and it touched down here around 4 am. The flight, which was to fly back to Sharjah by 4.40 am, was cancelled and the passengers were made to stay at Coimbatore. They were later put on board the evening flight, airport sources added.
