Bird disrupts engine of KLM flight at KIA

• KLM flight to Amsterdam was cancelled

• It was after the engine was disrupted by a bird

• Passengers onboard were disembarked and checked into hotels

KLM had to cancel its September 3 flight from Accra to Amsterdam after a bird found its way into the engine compartment of the aeroplane at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) minutes before take-off.

This, caused the plane to have an unexpected hitch and prompted personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service to rush to the scene. Passengers from the flight were left stranded and in fear.

Such incidence is described as a “bird strike.”

An eyewitness told Citi FM in a report that, the tyres of the plane were deflated in the process and it would have to be replaced to enable a resumption of the flight.

Engineers were, according to the eyewitness, working tirelessly to replace the tyres while passengers were still on board but they later had to disembark and checked into hotels to spend the night.

The exact details of the aircraft in question were not available.

About Bird Strikes

Skybrary.aero describes a bird strike as a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is in flight or on a takeoff or landing roll. The term is often expanded to cover other wildlife strikes – with bats or ground animals.

Bird Strike is common and can be a significant threat to aircraft safety. For smaller aircraft, significant damage may be caused to the aircraft structure and all aircraft, especially jet-engined ones, are vulnerable to the loss of thrust which can follow the ingestion of birds into engine air intakes. This has resulted in a number of fatal accidents.

Bird strikes may occur during any phase of flight but are most likely during the take-off, initial climb, approach and landing phases due to the greater numbers of birds in flight at lower levels. Since most birds fly mainly during the day, most bird strikes occur in daylight hours as well.