Newsroom
A TUI flight bound for Paphos was forced to return to Cardiff Airport shortly after take-off on Wednesday after the aircraft was struck by birds.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Flight TOM5TN had only just left the Welsh airport when passengers reported seeing flames near one of the engines beneath the right wing. The aircraft turned around and landed safely at approximately 2.52pm.
Passengers described a strong smell of burning inside the cabin during the incident. One passenger said the flight had already been delayed by around 20 minutes before departure and that the aircraft returned to the airport only a short time after taking off.
Video recorded from inside the aircraft appears to show a flock of birds flying close to the plane shortly after departure, followed by a flash of flame in the area of the right-hand engine.
Cardiff Airport confirmed that the aircraft had suffered a bird strike during departure. Its fire and rescue service attended the landing as a precaution, with two fire engines reportedly present when the plane returned.
“All passengers and crew are safe,” an airport spokesman said.
The runway was reopened at 3.22pm, allowing normal airport operations to resume.
The flight to Paphos International Airport, which would normally take around four hours, was subsequently rescheduled. The replacement service departed Cardiff at 12.25pm on Thursday.
Bird strikes are a regular occurrence in aviation. Figures from the UK Civil Aviation Authority show that more than 1,700 such incidents were recorded in the UK last year.
Despite their frequency, serious consequences are uncommon. Cases involving major aircraft damage or fatalities are considered extremely rare worldwide.
