Steven Adams appears to have a very rough flight with the Kiwi basketball star tweeting a picture of the plane he was on with a huge dent on its nose. Photo / Twitter
Steven Adams appears to have a very rough flight with the Kiwi basketball star tweeting a picture of the plane he was on with a huge dent on its nose. Photo / Twitter
Steven Adams appears to have a very rough flight with the Kiwi basketball star tweeting a picture of his plane with a huge dent on its nose.
Adams and the Delta Airlines plane his Oklahoma City Thunder team-mates were travelling in struck something while en route to Chicago; with the airline company and a Kiwi aviation expert saying it appeared to have been a bird.
Patrick Patterson says the OKC #Thunder team plane 'hit Superman'
Aviation commentator Peter Clark said after viewing the photo it appeared a solid object had hit the plane.
Although it was hard to say for certain what the object was until an investigation had been done, it may have a large bird or possibly - though less likely - a drone.
It was unlikely the passengers on the flight had felt much of the impact, unless it was a particularly large bird like a Canadian goose, he said.
Steve Adams and his Oklahoma City Thunder team-mates appear to have struck something while some 30,000 feet up on their way to Chicago. Photo / Getty Images
The part of the plane that was damaged was called the radar dome - a composite plastic that covered the radar system - Clark said, and as long as the radar was still working the plane would've still be safe as there wouldn't have been any structural damage.
"It's probably better it struck there then went down an engine."
Hail could also damage radar domes, but Clark said there was no indication of a hail strike in this case because hail would have caused more indentations.
He told the Herald although it wasn't common for birds to strike planes, it happened occasionally.
The airline would likely be conducting an investigation into the cause of the incident, Clark said, and more details about what had happened would be known once it was completed.
The Oklahoman has reported that Delta Airlines believed it was "likely" the plane had struck a bird while preparing to land in Chicago.
The airline said the plane "landed without incident" and maintenance crews were now evaluating the damage to the plane.
"Safety is Delta's top priority," the company said.
