The birds: The plane carrying 150 passengers were subjected to Hitchcockian horror. Photo / Suppled, Facebook, Liew
The birds: The plane carrying 150 passengers were subjected to Hitchcockian horror. Photo / Suppled, Facebook, Liew
In grisly scenes reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock horror film, a Singapore Airlines plane encountered a flock of birds when landing at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Thursday.
The Airbus A380 Superjumbo was on approach to the airport when it flew into multiple birds on the runway.
The results of which were captured by Donald Liew in a series of gruesome pictures.
The photos, published to facebook, show the nose and wings of the A380 stained with impact marks from the birds. The white livery of the Singapore fleet made for an even more grisly canvas on which the animals met their demise.
Plane strike: The plane was photographed shortly after arrival to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Photo / Facebook
A spokesperson for Singapore Airlines told the Straits Times that flight SQ336 was carrying 311 passengers when it struck the flock.
It appears the birds came away much worse off than the plane, which was deemed fit for service less than an hour later.
"Following inspections on the ground and cleaning, the aircraft was declared serviceable and it operated the return flight SQ335 to Singapore," The Times were told, with only a 45 minute delay for cleaning.
Collisions with birds - or 'bird strike' - has resulted in grounding of passenger planes and even fatal accidents.
In 1995 10 people were killed when a passenger jet suffered engine failure after hitting a flock of lapwings, flying out of Paris Le Bourget Airport.
Wings: It is uncertain how many birds hit the Singapore plane. Photo / Facebook
Perhaps the most high profile bird strike incident was the 2009 "Miracle on the Hudson" when an Airbus A320 encountered a flock of geese out of New York LaGuardia. Thankfully the US Airways pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles were able to perform an emergency landing on the river Hudson, saving the lives of 150 passengers and 5 crew.
Bird strike is a big problem and airports invest large amounts of money trying to avoid air traffic encountering flying animals.
This can involve low tech solutions such as loud gas cannons to scare away birds, to covering nearby lakes and reservoirs with floating plastic balls, displacing waterfowl.
Some airports have enlisted falconry experts to hunt down pesky pigeons using eagles and other birds of prey.
In Auckland, the International airport borders Manakau Harbour which is home to a rich ecosystem of birds and waterfowl.
