Fastjet was recently forced to ground one of its planes after it experienced a bird strike upon landing at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
According to a statement by the company’s Corporate Communications department, the incident contributed to the breakdown of flight schedules and travel disruptions experienced in recent days. Reads the statement:
Earlier this week, one of the airline’s aircraft was involved in a bird strike whilst on its approach into Harare, RG Mugabe International Airport, with damage requiring an outsized replacement part that needed specialised shipping to Harare.
The part was fitted yesterday in accordance with the manufacturer’s approved maintenance procedures.
The aircraft has since returned to regular service today operating the airline’s published timetable.
Fastjet apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by the crisis. It said:
… [the] untimely and unforeseeable bird strike event coincided with one of the airline’s other aircraft being in scheduled maintenance which was planned in accordance with the approved maintenance programme.
These two events meant that both aircraft were out of the airline’s operational fleet simultaneously, necessitating changes to the flying programme.
A bird strike is defined as a collision between a bird and an aircraft that is in flight or on a take-off or landing roll. | ZimLive
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As A Traffic Officer at Salisbury Airport during Air Rhodesia days, I was lucky to see a Viscount arrive following multiple bird strikes. A migrating flock of Storks collided with the aeroplane on the final approach.
It was as if strawberry jam had coated multiple areas and then someone had thrown feathers which adhered to the jam.