Vietnam Airlines plane damaged in bird-hit

By Phan Anh   September 11, 2019 | 06:32 am PT
Vietnam Airlines plane damaged in bird-hit
An Airbus A321 plane of Vietnam Airlines at the Noi Bai Airport, Hanoi, May 21, 2018. Photo by Shutterstock/Cesare Palma.
A bird-hit Sunday damaged the nose cone and weather radar of a Vietnam Airlines plane landing at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport.

The bird-aircraft collision happened at a height of 1,800 meters when an Airbus A321 was flying at 460 kph, according to the Ministry of Transport's Giao Thong newspaper. The species of the bird has not been identified.

The plane, which was flying from Hue to Hanoi, landed safely, but it has been temporarily grounded as it undergoes repairs.

Bird-hits are not uncommon for aircraft in Vietnam. Last week, an A320/VN-A650 plane operated by budget carrier VietJet Air experienced a bird-hit when flying from HCMC to the northern city of Hai Phong. Dozens of similar cases are recorded in the country every year.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC is among those that experience a high number of bird-hits, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

"As southern Vietnam provinces have many large fields where birds live and migrate, it is easy [for birds] to interfere with flights," a CAAV representative said.

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam has tried to deter the birds with different methods, but none has proved truly effective, the representative added.

 
 
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