Bird, animal hits raise safety concerns at major airports

A whopping 2,000 bird and animal hits on aircraft have been recorded annually in the last two years across the 20 airports which have recently emerged as the busiest in the country.

- S. LALITHA @ New Delhi

However, the number appears to be decreasing this year, as just 641 such hits have been recorded so far in the first five months.

Data shared by the DGCA reveals that there were 1,633 bird/animal strikes in 2022 at these airports. It soared to 2,269 in 2023 and dipped slightly to 2,066 in 2024.