Bird Decimates Nose of Plane in Brazil, Forcing Emergency Landing
It seems like lately we don’t go for more than a day without hearing about a major aviation mishap. As such, a flight in Brazil was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday after colliding with a bird in mid-air, which caused some pretty jaw-dropping damage to the nose of the plane. And there are shocking photos to prove it.
Citing local media, TMZ reports that the LATAM Airlines Airbus A321 had just taken off from Galeao Airport in Rio de Janeiro en route for São Paulo on Thursday morning when it struck the bird, forcing it to turn back around.
Photos taken from the ground show the nose of the 200-passenger plane completely crumpled in. It’s unclear what type of bird came in contact with the craft, as South America is home to many breeds of large birds capable of inflicting such damage. Just a few months ago, another small plane had to make an emergency landing in Brazil after a large vulture crashed through the cockpit.
Incredibly, airport officials said that no passengers were injured during the terrifying ordeal. And after the plane returned to the airport, they were all put on new flights.
In the wake of the incident, LATAM Airlines CEO Jerome Cadier took to LinkedIn to issue a rant about the incident.
“Just now, another bird strike,” Cadier said in the post, which has been translated into English. “The aircraft returned safely but obviously the flight was cancelled, disrupting the lives of all passengers, and obviously the airline as well.”
Cadier lamented that he expected legal action against the airline from passengers asking for monetary compensation over “moral damages” due to the cancellation of this flight. “And so follows Brazilian aviation … the question is: who pays the bill?” he added.
Earlier this week, Delta agreed to pay $30,000 to passengers who were aboard the ill-fated flight to Toronto that flipped over as it was touching down on the runway, amid snowy conditions and high winds. The payout will be “no strings attached,” meaning that those who accept the money still have the option of bringing firth a lawsuit in the future.
