Bird strike grounds Tiger plane at Adelaide

[Adam.S]

From Friday September 4 2009:

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...0-2682,00.html

A FLOCK of galahs grounded a Tiger Airways flight leaving Adelaide this morning.

Passengers on Flight TT882 to the Gold Coast were delayed for more than two hours when the Airbus hit the galahs while preparing to take off about 7.30am.

Bob Jennings of Middleton said the plane had been "charging down the runway" when "suddenly the pilot slammed on the brakes very hard".

"We came to a stop, turned off the runway and stopped for a while," he said.

"Then someone came on the PA and said we'd had a bird strike and we'd be going back to the terminal for an examination."

Adelaide Airport spokesman John McArdle said the plane "collided with a flock of galahs which were ingested into the engine".

"The plane came back to the terminal and the engine damage was enough to ground the aircraft," he said.

Sports in Focus photographer Joe Janko was at the terminal waiting for a flight when he noticed smoke pouring out of the plane.

"I just saw the fire-engines coming behind the plane as it was taxiing in," he said.

"There was smoke coming out when the plane pulled up and inspectors came to look at it."

Tiger Airways spokeswoman Vanessa Regan yesterday said the pilot followed procedure in immediately stopping the plane and turning back.

"We redeployed another plane and the passengers were soon on their way to the Gold Coast," Ms Regan said.

The Tiger Airways flight left Adelaide at 9.56am.

It is not known how extensively the plane was damaged.

A flock of geese forced a U.S. Airways Airbus to crash-land in the Hudson River, New York, in January this year.

Last year, a pelican was sucked into an engine and nearly brought down an RAAF F-111 in NSW.

Netting was installed at the North Plympton Waste and Recovery Centre on Morphett Rd in June 2007 after 15 reported bird strikes at Adelaide Airport in 2006-07 – more than double the number from 10 years earlier.

VH-VNC was the aircraft involved I believe.