Stray Dog on Kolkata Airport Runway Forces Chennai-Bound In…

A stray animal on the runway at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata prompted an IndiGo flight bound for Chennai to divert to Andal Airport in Durgapur. According to Gujarat Samachar, the diversion occurred after the animal was spotted on the runway, triggering quick action by the pilot and air traffic control to safeguard passengers. The incident is linked to concerns about perimeter security at Kolkata’s airport in the wake of a recent hijack hoax, with authorities launching an investigation to review security measures and identify any lapses.

Curly Tales adds that the aircraft involved was an IndiGo plane en route from Chennai to Kolkata, and that a fox was sighted on the runway. The report details that ATC instructed the flight to abort its landing approach, a go-around was performed, and the diversion to Andal was executed with the aircraft landing safely at the Durgapur facility. The piece notes the wildlife sighting occurred as the aircraft was approaching Kolkata, and characterizes the diversion and landing as part of a broader context of security concerns on that day at the airport.

The Hindu provides a precise timing and sequence: an Indigo flight from Chennai to Kolkata diverted just before landing after the captain observed a fox on the runway, prompting a go-around and subsequent landing at Andal airport in Durgapur at 6:35 p.m. The Hindu also reports that earlier in the day, a hoax hijack threat was found in a lavatory on an Air India flight from Kolkata to Mumbai, after which authorities conducted checks and deemed the threat non-credible, allowing the Air India aircraft to depart about seven hours behind schedule. Passengers on the Indigo flight reportedly endured more than two and a half hours of wait before the continued journey to Kolkata could resume.

FlightGlobal’s segment on the Kolkata event frames it alongside the day’s broader security episodes at the same airport, with the Indigo diversion attributed to wildlife on the runway and a proactive approach by the flight crew and ATC to execute a safe go-around and diversion. The article also notes that the broader coverage of the day included the hoax hijack threat on the Air India flight, though FlightGlobal’s focus remains on the operational response and the runway wildlife risk rather than the birds or animals themselves.

WSVN and Patch contribute corroborating details from the United States context in the same briefing ecosystem, but their coverage centers on a separate event: a small aircraft skidding off the runway at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in Florida on a Wednesday afternoon. Responders were on scene, observers captured footage from a local news helicopter, and no injuries were reported, with both outlets indicating that aircraft type and exact cause were not disclosed in the material available at the time. These U.S. reports are part of the broader set of aviation incidents described in the same source pool but are not connected to the Kolkata diversion.

NDTV’s compilation includes the hijack-threat incident at Kolkata Airport, with Air India flight AI 2772 isolated for security checks and passenger evacuation after a note was found in a lavatory. NDTV’s reporting emphasizes the ground halt and security procedures, while Bhaskar English and India Today are cited as sources for the sequence of events, including the flight’s grounding, the security response, and the eventual clearance after threat assessment. The networked reporting frames the Kolkata day as one with multiple security-related disruptions, including the wildlife sighting leading to the IndiGo diversion and the unrelated hijack-threat incident impacting Air India.

The material collectively indicates that the IndiGo Chennai-to-Kolkata flight diverted to Andal following a wildlife sighting on the Kolkata runway, with ATC coordination facilitating a go-around and safe alternative landing. The exact aircraft type is not specified in the provided material beyond noting the operator as IndiGo and the route as Chennai–Kolkata, and the diversion outcome was that the plane landed safely at Andal and was able to continue the journey later. No injuries are reported in association with the Kolkata diversion, and the reports emphasize procedural responses by pilots, ATC, and airport security in handling the wildlife risk and the subsequent security-related disruptions on the same day.