Akasa Air flight suffers bird hit, returns safely to Mumbai

New Delhi, Oct 15: An Akasa Air Boeing 737MAX suffered a bird hit on its way to Bangalore today. The flight returned safely to Mumbai airport due to a burning smell in the cabin.

Examination on the aircraft (VT-YAE) after it safely returned to Mumbai revealed that a bird hit had caused the problem. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is looking into the incident, the official said. The number of passengers on board the flight could not be immediately known.

"Flight AKJ-1103 had an air turnback due to burning smell in the cabin. The smell increased as the thrust was increased. However no other abnormality, including in engine parameters, was observed. After landing during inspection, bird remains were found on engine number 1. The burning smell was due to the bird strike," said a senior DGCA official.

The DGCA official said, however, no other abnormality including in engine parameters was observed.

The newly launched airline that began its operations on August 7 is yet to comment on the matter. ''After landing during the inspection, bird remains were found on engine number 1 of the aircraft,'' he said and added that, ''the burning smell was due to bird strike,'' he stated.

Akasa Air, the first Indian carrier to be launched in nearly a decade, operated its inaugural flight on August 7 from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. Billionaire and stock market expert Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who passed away earlier this month, had made substantial investment in the airline.