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'Animal terror' at Patna airport

Our Correspondent in Patna

Now it's "animal terror" and not "human error" which is giving sleepless nights to the Air Traffic Control at Patna's Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport.

Tuesday afternoon, an Indian Airlines flight from Delhi had a narrow escape when the pilot detected a couple of stray dogs on the runway and managed to lift the plane in the nick of time.

The pilot then spoke to the ATC and finally landed 20 minutes later after the tarmac was cleared of the animals.

Senior airport officials said Patna airport director G K Chaukiyal, RJD working committee president Dr Ranjan Prasad Yadav and some relatives of Rohit Ranjan, the last Allliance Air victim to succumb to injuries, were on board.

On July 23 the same Indian Airline (IC 809) Delhi-Patna flight was detained for over an hour as a large flock of birds obstructed its take off.

The airport authorities had a tough time chasing away the vultures, most of whom have built their nests in the neighbouring zoo. Airport authorities used zone guns and crackers to scare away the birds.

Officials said animal carcasses near the airport often attract birds.

While a permanent solution to the bird menace lies in the shifting of the zoo, the intrusion of dogs into the airport has added to the airport staff's woes.

A 6.5-feet high wall was built around the airport a few months back after a blue bull, after having escaped from its cage in the zoo, entered the airport.

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