Goa: An Air India flight with 116 passengers on board, which was about to depart from the Dabolim airport in Goa for Mumbai, had to abort its take-off due to a bird-hit on Wednesday morning, a senior official said.

The incident took place at 6.45 am. Due to the bird-hit, smoke started emanating from the aircraft's engine following which the flight take-off was aborted, airport director M C Jayarajan told reporters in Vasco.

The cockpit crew promptly adhered to Standard Operating Procedures, aborting the takeoff to ensure the safety of all passengers and crew members on board.

Following the incident, all passengers safely disembarked from the aircraft. Later, the plane was taken out of service for a thorough inspection to assess any potential damage, as informed by an Air India spokesperson.

In response to the incident, Air India’s ground staff at Dabolim Airport provided full support to the affected passengers. Alternative flight arrangements were swiftly organized to ensure that travellers reached their destination as soon as possible. Additionally, passengers were offered full refunds for cancellations and were given the option to reschedule their flights at no extra cost, should they prefer.

In an incident today morning, an Air India flight AI129 bound to London returned to Mumbai following a technical snag. Upon its landing at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), the aircraft underwent precautionary checks.

Later, the airline wrote an apology to the passengers while arranging alternate flight for passengers to their destinations.  Air India also offered a full refund to passengers who cancelled the ticket and complimentary rescheduling to another date, as per passenger convenience.

As if the above two technical snag incidents were not enough, Air India stopped it stopped its Pune-Mumbai flight service just months after its launch. The 55-minute air travel between the two cities was convenient for passengers. However, the airline discontinued the service due to lack of passengers.

The airline said that the decision was taken to streamline the schedules as per the policy.

Just a month back, in July, a San Francisco-bound Air India flight from Delhi was diverted to Russia’s Krasnoyarsk international airport due to a technical issue. The cockpit crew detected a potential issue in the cargo hold area, post which an alarm was sounded and the flight was diverted. Fortunately, the flight landed safely.

These rising cases of technical snags are a cause of concern, not just for the airlines, but for the regulators as well.