Later, a dead pigeon was found on the runway, which was suspected to have hit the lower side of the helicopter’s rotors. Strangely, the pigeon’s body was intact, sources said. It has been learnt that the flight was called off later, and the bird hit chopper remains parked at Nagpur airport. Sources said prima facie no damage was reported to the helicopter.Mihan India Limited (MIL), which operates Nagpur airport, also appointed a bird watcher to track the movement of birds. Kabutarbazi (pigeon racing) is often spotted near the airport too, sources said.An Air India aircraft suffered a bird hit in October last year and was subsequently grounded. Before that, an IndiGo Airlines flight returned mid-way after suffering a major bird hit, which had damaged the plane’s frontal section.
