‘Bird strike’ forces Ryanair flight from Liverpool to Cyprus to turn around shortly after take-off
- The Ryanair Boeing 737 took off from Liverpool John Lennon Airport at 6.30am
- The aircraft circled for an hour burning fuel before returning to the airport
- The jet landed safely and the passengers and crew were unharmed by the smash
- The passengers were put on a replacement aircraft to Paphos in Cyprus
Emergency services including the Coastguard were put on standby after a plane was involved in a suspected bird strike after leaving Liverpool Airport.
The Ryanair flight to Paphos, Cyprus took off at 6.30am normally, however, the pilot alerted air traffic controllers that he had been involved in a suspected bird strike.
Emergency services including the airport fire brigade and the coast guard were put on alert as the jet returned to John Lennon Airport where it landed safely.
A Ryanair jet suffered a suspected birdstrike after it took off this morning from Liverpool John Lennon airport. The jet was due to fly to Paphos, Cyprus, but returned to Liverpool safely
Liverpool John Lennon Airport said the emergency authorities were alerted as a matter of routine following a suspected bird strike
There were no injuries following today’s incident and the passengers flew out on a replacement service several hours later.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport stressed it was ‘standard practice’ to notify emergency services in such situations and the plane’s return to Liverpool was a ‘precautionary measure’.
RNLI New Brighton confirmed it was alerted posting on its Facebook page: ‘New Brighton RNLI lifeboat volunteers tasked by UK Coastguard at 07:08am this morning to a report of an Aircraft Emergency at John Lennon Airport.
‘Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Marine Fire One And HM Coastguard Crosby also tasked.
‘Lifeboat Stood down as the aircraft had thankfully landed safely.’
Liverpool John Lennon Airport spokesman Robin Tudor told the Liverpool Echo: ‘It was simply a precautionary measure with an aircraft that had departed earlier and suspected it had suffered a bird strike so returned to the airport.
‘As a part of standard practise in such situations the various emergency services are notified, however the aircraft landed normally without incident and the passengers are due to fly out later this morning.’
According to aviation website SKYbrary, a birdstrike is strictly defined as a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is in flight or on a take off or landing.
The term is often expanded to cover other wildlife strikes – with bats or ground animals.
It adds that bird strike is common and ‘can be a significant threat to aircraft safety’.