travelling-blogger

comments

More than 140 passengers on a Delhi-bound flight from Surat had a miraculous escape on Thursday after a stray buffalo ran onto the runway as the aircraft was about to take off.

Indian low cost airline SpiceJet's flight SG66 hit the animal at the airport in Magdala, in the Western state of Gujarat at around 7.25pm. As a result the airline has suspended all its services at the Surat airport for an indefinite period.

While none of the aircraft's 146 passengers were injured the Boeing 737-800 aircraft's left engine was 'severely damaged' and the buffalo died on the spot.

Scroll down for video 

Emergency: SpiceJet flight SG66 was left grounded and damaged after hitting a stray buffalo on the runway

Buffaloes graze in fields next to Surat airport but one had escaped through a gap in the perimeter fencing

Stray buffalo killed as an Indian plane hits it at speed on...

The front wheel has just left land when the collision happened, seconds before take-off. The pilot initiated an emergency stop and the plane came to a halt around bushes situated outside the runway. 

The pilot and co-pilot explained what had happened to passengers and drove the plane into the parking area to check the damage.

Low cost airline SpiceJet has cancelled all flights to and from airport while 'corrective measures' are taken

The buffalo died at the scene although none of the aircraft's 146 passengers were injured

An alternate aircraft was arranged to fly the passengers to Delhi, which left at 10.55pm hours that night.

Buffaloes graze in fields just next to the airport and are a common sight in the area but one of the animals had escaped through a gap in the perimeter fencing and had walked onto the runway. 

SpiceJet spokesperson Siddharth Kumar said, 'A Surat-to-Delhi SpiceJet aircraft, SG-622, carrying around 140 passengers excluding crew members hit a buffalo on Thursday during take-off roll at Surat airport. The buffalo was essentially invisible against a dark background.'

Darkness:A group of people gather around the area where the buffalo hit the airplane to inspect damage

'The passengers had a miraculous escape,' airport director Dr SD Sharma told Times of India. 'There was no breakdown of the engine or other technical fault. The aircraft hit a stray animal during take-off. The aircraft will have to undergo a thorough investigation to check the damage. We've ordered a probe into the incident. A detailed report will be in within a couple of days.'

The Civil Aviation Ministry is reportedly trying to get the airline to resume flights as soon as possible but SpiceJet says it wants "corrective measures to ensure its passengers, crew and aircraft are not put at risk again."

The Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered two inquiries by the Director General of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India. 

A security check of airport perimeters has been ordered across all airports in the country. 

There have been several incidents with animals at Indian airports including a stray pig on the runway of Nagpur airport in July 2009, which a Kingfisher Airlines' aircraft hit. In March 2010 Mumbai's CSI Airport was shut down for 30 minutes after a dog was spotted on a runway.