Passengers stranded as Aero’s Kano-Lagos flight suffers bird strike

ALagos-bound Aero Contractors flight yesterday returned to Kano after one of the engines of the aircraft suffered a bird strike during take-off.

The development meant the flight couldn’t proceed on the journey leaving the passengers stranded at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport.

Bird strike is a common occurrence in aviation globally and the worst hit is the US where there are record 13,000 bird strikes annually.

Any time an aircraft suffers bird strike during taking off, the aircraft would be grounded for proper check by the regulatory authorities before the aircraft is returned to service.

This is coming amidst the depleting flights out of Kano and other Northern states in the aftermath of the suspension of Azman Air, one of the major airlines on the routes.

The management of Aero Contractors in a statement on Sunday explained that for precautionary and safety reasons, the Captain-inCommand had to return to the base.

“Aero Contractors had to make arrangements to ferry the aircraft back to Lagos to enable our engineers undertake a check on the engines and secure the approval of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) before returning it to service,” the airline said.

It added, “After close examination, with the approval of NCAA and Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), the aircraft was ferried back to Lagos for further examination. We are currently doing everything possible to bring our passengers back to Lagos.”

The airline expressed regret over the inconveniences suffered by its passengers on flight N2142 which occurred at take-off.