Bird Strike at NPL

14 May 2009

Source : http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3695893/Birdstrike-brings-plane-to-stop

An Air New Zealand plane leaving New Plymouth airport had to abort the flight after hitting birds as it set to take off yesterday. The Auckland-bound plane hit the birds while powering down the runway just before 7am. "We were told a truck was going to get rid of the birds, but then when we went down the runway we felt the plane power down and the plane came to a halt," passenger Phil Pearson said. "Then my wife noticed the dead birds on the runway and we figured out what happened." After hitting the birds, thought to be a flock of gulls, the plane was then grounded for most of the morning while an aircraft engineer inspected it for damage. Passengers had to either find alternative flights, or wait for the plane to be fixed if they could not sort something out. Mr Pearson could not find a new flight in time so missed his connecting plane to Sydney. "It's a bit frustrating, I'm supposed to be at work today," he said. "But we weren't quick enough up to the counter." Other passengers were worse off, however, as some had missed connecting flights with other airlines and could not get refunds, Mr Pearson said. "Some of them could lose a lot of money from this." An Air New Zealand spokesman said bird strike was a very rare event, but one that meant the plane had to be checked extensively. The birds could have damaged the body or the propellers, he said. Dead birds had been cleared off the runway immediately. It was thought only three or four birds had been killed in the accident.