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The Emir of Kano and 230 other passengers on Max Air and Aero Contractor airlines were involved in bird strike incidents at the Aminu Kano International Airport (AKIA), Kano and Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Rivers State.
The Aero Contractor, Boeing 737-500 with the registration number 5N-BKR, was heading to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja before the bird strike incident on Monday afternoon thereby damaging the aircraft blade in the process.
It was further gathered that the Aero Contractor aircraft had departed PHIA for Abuja with 91 souls on board, i.e 85 passengers and six crew members at 2:06 pm.
However, the Max Air aircraft, also a Boeing 737 aircraft with registration number: 5N: BBM had departed Kano for Abuja airport at 1:21 pm, but made an air return barely nine minutes later when three engine blades were attacked by birds on take-off at the airport.
The attack caused a big bang on the aircraft and brought agitations to the onboard passengers who were unsure of the kind of attack the airplane suffered.
It was gathered that the Max Airplane immediately after the attack shook, made a heavy noise and vibrated in the air.
It was learnt that the pilot-in-command later informed the passengers about the nature of the incident and returned to base to disembark the passengers.
Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), confirmed the Max Air incident saying it was similar to the one that happened on Monday in Port Harcourt to one of Aero Contractors aircraft.
He explained that NCAA had immediately called for a meeting with the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to deliberate on how such occurrence could be curbed in the future, stressing that bird strike could cause grave damage to aircraft.
He said, “We are meeting with FAAN and NAMA on this issue of bird strike.”
Speaking on the port Harcourt incident, the NCAA DG explained that the pilot made a circuit and returned to base within eight minutes after the incident, maintaining that the action of the pilot was in order.
According to him, the incident led to the damage of the aircraft’s blade, stressing that the airline’s engineers were currently fixing the damaged part of the aircraft.
Nuhu explained further that Aero Contractors brought another aircraft to airlift the passengers to Abuja within 90 minutes of the incident, stressing that the damaged part of the aircraft was undergoing repairs in Port Harcourt.
He said, “Boeing 737-500 aircraft with the registration number: 5N-BKR belonging to Aero Contractors departed Port Harcourt to Abuja, but, during takeoff, had a bird strike and the pilot continued the take-off, made a circuit and returned to land.
“That is what is supposed to be done. Pilots are trained for that. At the point he had the bird strike, he could not abort the takeoff. So, he continued with the takeoff and returned to base. They restarted the engine and discovered that some parts of the blades were damaged. Within 90 minutes, Aero Contractors came with a different aircraft to rescue the passengers.
“As we speak, maintenance is going on to fix the damaged blade and when they finish, NCAA inspectors will inspect it and certify it if all the parameters; engines, blades and others are okay, they will be released for flight.”
