Suspected bird hit disrupts Air India Express Pune-Chandigarh flight

Passengers on an Air India Express flight from Pune to Chandigarh were held on board for nearly three hours on Sunday due to a suspected bird strike, before the flight was ultimately cancelled. The airline had scheduled the aircraft to fly from Pune to Chandigarh at 3:45 am and return to Pune at 6:05 am. Engineers detected the issue during a routine pre-flight inspection before departure.

An airline source told the Indian Express that identifying the problem earlier could have stopped the boarding process. Despite attempts to fix the technical issue, the flight was eventually cancelled, leaving passengers stranded. One affected passenger shared on X that they were left waiting inside the aircraft for three hours, with the airline failing to offer an alternative flight or address passenger concerns, causing a booked trip to be lost at a cost of Rs 90,000.

Air India Express apologized for the disruption, emphasizing that passenger safety is their top priority and explaining that decisions like these are made for safe operations. They also acknowledged the inconvenience caused and assured passengers that they would be provided with refreshments, rescheduling options, and full refunds.

This incident is not the first for Air India Express; on August 19, a flight from Amritsar to Pune was also cancelled due to a suspected bird strike shortly after take-off, leading to the cancellation of subsequent Pune-Delhi services.