The primary runway of the airport

A bird watcher on the runway was the unlikely hero as a flight with 130 passengers had a narrow escape on Wednesday.

A Delhi-Calcutta Jet Airways flight was preparing to land just after noon when the ground staff member posted to shoo away birds noticed that a portion of the primary runway had peeled off.

The bird watcher immediately sounded the alarm. The primary runway was promptly shut down and flight 9W-922 was told not to touch down.

“A chunk of around 16 square feet on the primary runway had peeled off. The Delhi-Calcutta Jet flight was preparing to land when this was noticed. Anything could have happened if the wheels would have hit that uneven patch.... A tragedy was averted,” said an airport official.

Flight 9W-922 remained airborne as the secondary runway was also congested.

“We informed the pilot about the congestion on the other runway. The plane was kept in the air for around 10 minutes before the secondary runway was cleared and the flight landed safely,” said an airport official.

The airport authorities have launched an investigation to ascertain why the runway surface had peeled off.

An airport official said that the runway might have been “softened” by the rains and the wheels of an aircraft could have caused the damage.

Another flight of a private airline had landed shortly before the damage on the primary runway was detected. “We are trying to find out whether the wheels of that flight had caused the surface to peel off,” said an official.

After the bird watcher spotted the runway scar and the Jet Airways flight was diverted to the secondary runway, the primary runway remained shut for close to three hours, said an airport official.

No scheduled take-off or touchdown was disrupted due to the shutdown as it was not during peak hours.

“So, the only casualty was the Jet flight’s scheduled time of arrival, as it had to circle the Calcutta skies for some 10 minutes.... It is difficult to tell what could have happened if the damage had not been detected in the nick of time. The flight could have been in major trouble,” said an airport official.