Over 1,000 incidents of planes colliding with animals in India: Govt

There were more than 1,000 incidents of bird strikes as well as animals colliding with planes at various airports in the country this year, the Centre informed parliament today.

The figures indicate a 50 per cent increase in such cases since 2014, which witnessed 719 bird/animal hits, it said.

There were 81 instances of animals straying into the paths of planes this year. Such incidents have doubled in the past three years with 40 such incidents reported in 2014, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in Lok Sabha.

The minister attributed the rise in incidents involving the wildlife to an "increase in (flight) operations and effective reporting of incidents".

The central government also said that there had been only one fatal incident, which occurred in November, 2015 at Katra due to a bird strike.

It also listed several measures taken to curb such accidents, including regular joint inspections of areas around airports by a team comprising DGCA officials, and imposition of Rs 1 lakh fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both, on the violators who leave animals or birds in the vicinity of airports.