For 164 passengers onboard an Air Arabia flight on January 2nd, their Monday became quite eventful as their flight encountered a bird strike moments before take-off from Coimbatore Airport. The aircraft received some substantial damage, and the flight was eventually canceled, which was the first bird strike-related cancelation at Coimbatore in seven years.
Two eagles and an Airbus A320
The incident happened to Air Arabia flight G9 414, a regularly scheduled flight service connecting Coimbatore International Airport and Sharjah International Airport. Operating this flight on Monday was an Airbus A320, although the aircraft registration remains uncertain at this time of writing. At approximately 07:00, while amid its take-off roll on the runway, G9 414 encountered a bird strike.
Two eagles had suddenly collided with the aircraft’s engine, and the pilots were immediately aware of the bird strike and proceeded to stop the speeding aircraft safely, aborting take-off. The pilots then taxied the aircraft back to its gate to have engineers assess for damages and allow all 164 passengers onboard to disembark toward the gate hold room. It was determined that, thankfully, no one was hurt.
Unfortunately, the left engine of the Airbus A320 sustained quite an impact. And perhaps what was even more unfortunate was that one of the two eagles had died, with its remains left shredded within the fan blades. Due to the damage sustained, G9 414 remained grounded and canceled, marking the first time in seven years that a bird strike had grounded or canceled a flight at Coimbatore International Airport.
The airport’s director, S. Senthil Valavan, confirmed the occurrence of the incident by saying:
“Although approximately two to three bird strike incidents are being reported every month, this was the first time in seven years that a flight had to be grounded after being hit.”
Letting the birds know they don’t belong
Valavan also noted that although it’s regrettable that Coimbatore Airport experiences that many incidents every month, the airport has been using several control measures in continuously attempting to keep the birds away. One such example of the airport’s employment of bird chasers who drive around the airfield actively chasing flocks of birds away.
To chase these birds away, the chases use a tool known as the bird scare gun, which is another measure undertaken by the airport that produces a loud enough ‘bang’ to scare off wildlife. The airport also uses herbicides to control plant growth and consistently maintains the height of grass to a minimal level to reduce the chances of bird breeding occurrences.
Dumping waste near the airport was also recently made illegal to help further reduce the chances of birds using dumping sites as breeding grounds. However, given how bird strikes are still quite a common occurrence, Coimbatore Airport authorities are discussing implementing more bird control methods and have even enlisted the help of research institutions.
Bottom line
At this time of writing, G9 414 has yet to depart from Coimbatore International Airport, as Air Arabia’s engineers are still waiting on the engine spare parts to arrive. They plan to complete the repair works by tonight and hope that G9 414 can be resumed on Tuesday morning. Hopefully, the eagles won’t strike twice.
Source: simpleflying.com