Air Peace has attributed the incident that made its Lagos-bound flight make an emergency stop to a bird strike hitting one of the engines of its aeroplanes.
Spokesman for the airline, Dr Ejike Ndiulo, in a statement said, “Our Abuja-Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers normally disembark.”
Ndiulo further states that the airline deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight to minimise disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.
“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.”
A bird strike is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle (usually an aircraft).
The term is also used for bird deaths resulting from collisions with structures, such as power lines, towers and wind turbines.
A significant threat to flight safety, bird strikes have caused several accidents with human casualties.
There are over 13,000 bird strikes annually in the US alone. However, the number of major accidents involving civil aircraft is quite low and it has been estimated that there is only about one accident resulting in human death in one billion flying hours.
