Flight to Ranchi delayed by 3 hours after bird hit on takeoff run at IGI

NEW DELHI: A Ranchi-bound AirAsia flight suffered a bird-hit at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Monday when the flight was preparing for takeoff, officials said.
The pilot informed the ATC tower, discontinuing take-off before taxiing the plane once again so that inspections could be carried out. After officials inspected the flight and determined it was fit to fly, the plane was allowed to return from the bay after nearly three hours.
Air Asia flight I5-744 was initially scheduled to take off at 9.35am and was to reach Ranchi's Birsa Munda international airport at 11.15am. However the flight finally left Delhi at 12.05pm and landed in Ranchi at 2.03pm.
The airline issued a statement on Monday saying: "I5-744 New Delhi-Ranchi flight had a bird hit on takeoff today. The captain decided to discontinue takeoff and the aircraft was taxied back to the bay for a detailed engine inspection by our technical team".