Chennai: A British Airways flight suffered a bird strike in the wee hours of Monday just moments before it landed at Chennai airport, leading to cancellation of its subsequent flight to London.It happened around 3.30am when the flight was on the landing path at the St Thomas Mount end to touch down on the city airport runway with 226 passengers on board from London. However, the flight landed safely, and the passengers were deboarded.The flight was moved to the remote apron, where an engineering team assessed the damage due to the bird hit. Since additional checks had to be carried out to assess whether the plane was fit to fly, its subsequent journey from Chennai to London, scheduled at 5.30am, was cancelled.British Airways confirmed the incident and said all passengers of the cancelled flight were accommodated at hotels. Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was apprised of the incident, said a British Airways spokesperson.Sources said the airline arranged an alternative flight, which will arrive from London on Tuesday. Some flyers who insisted on flying to London on Monday were accommodated on flights operated from Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi.
