Boars stray inside airport, DGCA orders probe

Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered an inquiry into a serious safety breach following intrusion of a herd of boars on the runway at Nagpur airport.

The intrusion took place moments after an Indian Air Force Boeing 737 carrying President Pranab Mukherjee touched down at on Monday evening.

“We have asked for a detailed report from Maharashtra Airport Development Company, which operates Nagpur airport. Based on the report, we will decide on the action,” Director General of Civil Aviation M Sathayivathy stated.

In their preliminary report airport officials informed the regulator that portions of perimeter wall of the airport fell due to heavy rains. Tin sheets were put up as temporary measure but those too gave away.

The boars were spotted by the pilot after the Boeing 737 landed and was taxiing towards to the terminal building.

Animal intrusions at Nagpur are not new and the airport was listed with four other airports with the highest instances of intrusions.

Following collision between a buffalo and a SpiceJet Boeing 737 at Surat last December the regulator had carried out inspection of airports across country including Nagpur.

Nagpur is one of the airports where inspection was carried out and measures were suggested to prevent animal intrusion. These included plugging of breached portions of wall. The airport operator had complied with regulator observations.

Under the rules an airport operator is bound to take measures to prevent wildlife intrusion and prevent bird attacks. These include steps like regular inspection of boundary wall, trimming of grass inside the airport premises amongst others.