Manza Anwar
Post, BBC Urdu, Islamabad
19 minutes ago
It was a winter evening in December 2016 when Captain Bilal Chaghatai PIA ATR 72 was about to land in Islamabad when suddenly hundreds of birds appeared right in front of the cockpit. In the words of Captain Bilal, I had read the word. I don't know how Allah saved me.
He believes that 'it was a miracle' that he and all the passengers (about 60 people) survived. Some birds left from above, some from below and some from right and left.
Speaking to the BBC, Captain Bilal explains that if even one of these birds had gone into the engine, "my engine would have been destroyed."
Captain Bilal of PIA has 20 years of flying experience. In that time, he has captained aircraft ranging from Fokkers to 737s, Boeing 777s, ATRs and 320s and others, and he says bird strikes are common.
Recently, on December 29, 2024 i.e. Sunday, a private airline passenger plane crashed at South Korea's Moan International Airport, killing 179 people including 175 passengers and four crew members.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is underway, but Moan Fire Department Chief Lee Jeong-hyun says it appears the crash was caused by a bird hitting the plane and bad weather.
, image source Getty Images
image captionJeju Air's Boeing 800-737, which took off from Bangkok Airport in Thailand, had 181 people on board, of which only two flight attendants survived the crash.
Before landing, the air traffic control issued a bird strike or collision warning to the pilot, due to which the pilot delayed the landing, but about two minutes later, the pilot gave a 'may day' call, after which the air traffic command took off the aircraft. allowed to land from the opposite side but during landing the landing gear and wheels of the aircraft did not open and the aircraft skidded and hit the wall after which there was a loud explosion.
Before the accident, a passenger on board the plane sent a text message to a member of his family that 'there is a bird stuck on the wing of the plane due to which the plane is not able to land.'
According to aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas, the cause of this accident could also be a bird strike. Speaking to the BBC, he said, "It appears as if a bird had hit the plane, which affected one of the aircraft's engines (the right engine)."
And as a result of this malfunction, there would have been a lot of pressure in the cockpit and it is quite possible that the pilot might have forgotten to lower the landing gear in such conditions.
According to Thomas, there are plenty of birds near Moan Airport during this season.
In this article, we have talked to experienced pilots, officials of the Airports Authority and Civil Aviation in Pakistan, airport managers and technical experts to find out how a small bird is worth millions. How can an airplane crash after all safety checks have been done and can these accidents caused by birds be avoided?
But before that let's know what is meant by bird strike.
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