Plane grounded after crashing into water buffalo on runway in India

It was nothing compared to the monitor lizards that once invaded Delhi airport

SpiceJet is India's largest low-cost airline (AFP/Getty Images)

A plane has hit a stray buffalo that wandered on to a runway in the western Indian city of Surat.

The Boeing 737 was preparing to take off on Thursday night when it collided with the animal, which was killed.

“Substantial damages” to the aircraft forced the airline to evacuate the 146 passengers and crew on board and transfer them to another plane for the journey to Delhi.

Dr SD Sharma, the director of Surat Airport, told the Times of India that passengers had a “miraculous escape” in the accident and a detailed investigation was being conducted.

A spokesperson for SpiceJet, India’s second-largest airline, said the buffalo was “essentially invisible” against the tarmac.

“Stray animals are a growing menace in some airports,” a statement said.

Water buffalo are found in India as well as across Asia (AFP/Getty Images)

“This incident has affected our regular operations and hence SpiceJet flights from Surat will now be suspended after this incident.”

Sanjiv Kapoor, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, said all passengers and crew were unharmed but animals on runways were a “growing menace”.

Calling the buffalo incident “simply inexcusable”, he blamed airport security, saying animals must be getting through gaps in fences.

Surat Airport, which is run by the Indian Government’s airports authority, is investigating the breach.

A day after the incident, the Indian Express photographed another herd of water buffalo entering and leaving Surat airport through broken fences with little difficulty.

It is not the first time an animal has caused accidents on Indian runways.

Stray dogs and jackals are frequently a problem at airports and peacocks, porcupines, monkeys and birds of prey have also caused disruption.

In 2008, almost 100 flights out of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport were delayed after a family of large monitor lizards crawled onto the warm runway, forcing it to be closed.