The plane's emergency return due to a collision with the tide...a disastrous trail of holes
Feb 07, 2025
|
According to British media such as The Sun, a British chartered airline TUI flight from Gatwick Airport to Cabo Verde, a West African island country, made an emergency return on the 5th (local time).
The plane collided with two swans at an altitude of about 300 meters within seconds of takeoff.
The accident caused cracks in the front window and holes in some of the fuselage. The captain alerted the control tower to an emergency return and returned to Gatwick Airport.
The bird strike stained the windshield with swan blood, making it difficult for pilots to see the outside.
After landing, he was helped by a guided vehicle from the runway to the parking lot.
Photos obtained by The Sun show the crushed fuselage and blood smeared over cracked windows. Important electronic systems have also been damaged.
There were 192 passengers on board at the time, but no one was injured.
Experts say the height of the aircraft was probably between 150 and 300 meters when colliding with the tide. "Some passengers may have been shocked," he said.
In general, if a 900g bird crashes into an aircraft that was flying at 370 kilometers per hour, the impact at the moment the aircraft is hit is said to reach 4.8 tons.
The damage to the Boeing 737 Max of the TUI Airlines was estimated to be at least 1 million pounds (about 1.8 billion won), and the repair period was expected to take several weeks.
Meanwhile, more than 1400 bird crashes occurred in the UK in 2022, of which about 100 affected flights, according to the UK Civil Aviation Administration.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
