The recent air return of Aero Contractors Abuja airport bound flight from the Port Harcourt International Monday this week has been applauded by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The Director General, NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu described the pilot’s decision to return as professional.
“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”.
Onboard the aircraft were 91 persons ; 85 passengers and six crew members at 2:06pm and returned to base at 2:14pm.
The pilot of the Aero Contractor Flight NIG382 made an air return after it encountered bird strike on take-off at the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Megwa.
Commenting on the incident, Capt. Nuhu explained that the pilot of the Boeing 737-500 with the registration number 5N-BKR, made a circuit and returned to base within eight minutes after the incident, maintaining that the action of the pilot was in order.
He said: “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.
The aircraft blade were reported to have been damage and undergoing repairs in Port Harcourt.
“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.”
Capt. Nuhu stated that, Aero Contractors brought another aircraft to airlift the passengers to Abuja within 90 minutes of the incident.
