Pictures show tarmac death hasn’t ended bull run at Surat airport

The airport staff has started fixing the fence, but we doubt if it will be able to hold back even a stray dog.

The Delhi-bound SpiceJet Boeing that killed a buffalo while taking off is still stranded at the Surat airport. (Source: Kamaal Saiyed)

No, the buffalo that came in the path of a SpiceJet aircraft was not part of the passenger manifest, nor was it a member of the ground staff. What is obvious from a visit to the periphery of the airport is that it is pretty much free entry for four-legged bovines, and obviously smaller two-legged mischief makers.

Here are some exclusive pics of @flySpiceJet Boeing Jet hitting a buffalo at Surat runway today. #sad

#avgeek pic.twitter.com/GEZmTAwqM9

— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) November 6, 2014

A day after a Delhi-bound SpiceJet Boeing aircraft with 170 passengers on board hit and killed a buffalo, The Indian Express found another herd entering, and leaving, the Surat airport without being frisked by a touchy security guard. The herd waltzed through an opening in the fence and did not seem perturbed by their fellow four-legged, grass-chomping, one ton friend’s death. And before you read political undertones into what happened in the textile city, we can assure you the untimely death was not the result of a ‘vayu-vahan roko‘ andolan by disgruntled elements. The airport staff has certainly woken up, but going by the strength — or the lack of it — of the fencing that is being shored up around the airport, we won’t be amused if there are more such, or larger, tragedies waiting to happen at this air hub. So far nobody has come forward to claim the body of the dead buffalo and hence no ex gratia was announced.