Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Capt. Musa Nuhu, has said the pilot of Aero Contractor Flight NIG382, acted professionally in returning to base, after it encountered bird strike on take-off at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
Nuhu told independent.ng that the aircraft, a Boeing 737-500 with the registration number 5N-BKR, was heading to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja before the incident happened on Monday afternoon.
He explained that the pilot made a circuit and returned to base within eight minutes after the incident, maintaining that the action of the pilot was in order.
The aircraft which had departed Port Harcourt for Abuja, had 85 passengers and six crewmembers on board.
The DG further disclosed that the incident led to the damage of the aircraft’s blade, while he assured that the airline’s engineers were currently fixing the damaged part of the aircraft.
Nuhu explained that Aero Contractors immediately brought in another aircraft to airlift the passengers to Abuja within 90 minutes of the incident
“Boeing 737-500 aircraft with the registration number: 5N-BKR belonging to Aero Contractors departed Port Harcourt to Abuja, but, during takeoff, it had a bird strike and the pilot continued the take-off, made a circuit and returned to land.
“That is what is supposed to be done. Pilots are trained for that. At the point he had the bird strike, he could not abort the takeoff. So, he continued with the takeoff and returned to base. They restarted the engine and discovered that some parts of the blades were damaged. Within 90 minutes, Aero Contractors came with a different aircraft to rescue the passengers.
“As we speak, maintenance is going on to fix the damaged blade and when they finish, NCAA inspectors will inspect it and certify it if all the parameters; engines, blades and others are okay, they will be released for flight,” he added.
