Kolkata: An IndiGo flight from Chennai to Kolkata was diverted to Durgapur on Wednesday evening after air traffic control alerted the pilot to an animal on the Kolkata airport runway during the aircraft’s approach. Flight 6E 986, which departed Chennai at 4.06 pm, was attempting to land in Kolkata around 6.05 pm when the obstruction was reported. “The captain of a Ranchi-bound aircraft waiting to take off spotted the animal on the runway and alerted ATC. The IndiGo flight approaching to land was then instructed to go around, but the captain opted to divert,” an airport official said.The captain of the Ranchi-bound flight had reported spotting a dog on the runway, but an airport official said it was in all likelihood a jackal.On Tuesday, too, an earlier IndiGo flight from Chennai had diverted to Bhubaneswar when the captain learnt of a thundershower in Kolkata.Flight-tracking data from FlightAware showed flight 6E 986 had descended to 390 m before climbing again and turning northwest towards Andal airport near Durgapur. The A321 landed there at 6.35 pm and refuelled.At Kolkata airport, flight operations were temporarily suspended and a runway inspection vehicle was immediately deployed to drive away the animal. “When the vehicle reached the runway, the jackal had already slipped away. After surveying the area and reporting all clear, operations resumed,” the official said.Wildlife experts said the showers on Tuesday evening could have filled up the burrows and driven the jackal into the open.Jackals straying on the runway have long posed a safety problem at Kolkata airport, though sightings had reduced over the past year after several animals were trapped using camouflaged smart cages. The last reported runway sightings were in Jan and Feb last year.On Jan 19, 2025, the pilot of an Akasa Air Kolkata-Ahmedabad flight reported two jackals near Taxiway 2, forcing a chartered aircraft to go around. On Feb 16, the pilot of a Delhi-bound Air India flight reported a jackal on the primary runway during takeoff, forcing an incoming Visakhapatnam-Kolkata flight to abort landing.Durgapur airport, where Wednesday’s flight was diverted, has faced similar problems. Twenty-two jackals have been trapped there and handed over to the forest department over the past year.A jackal on a runway is a serious aviation hazard. Though an adult jackal usually weighs only 8 kg to 10 kg, a collision at takeoff or landing speeds, often above 250 kmph, can cause severe structural damage to an aircraft.
