Emergency landing at Palma Airport after bird strike

Eurowings plane at Palma Son Sant Joan Airport, Mallorca

Eurowings plane in Palma. (Archive image.) | Archive

Andrew EdePalma28/07/2023 16:35

On Thursday, a Eurowings plane that had taken off from Palma Son Sant Joan Airport was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing after a bird strike.

The plane was bound for Graz in Austria. Around 2.25pm, there was a collision with a number of birds. The plane circled several times over the northeast of the island before landing.

A Eurowings spokesperson says that the safety of passengers and crew was never in jeopardy. An alternative flight for the passengers was arranged.

Bird strikes do occur occasionally, especially in summer. To try and prevent them, the airport has three falconers and eleven birds of prey. Pep Salom, who is in charge of this service, says that these birds reduce the risks "by almost 99%".

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Lee Pannett | about 1 year ago

Situations like this are incredibly scary for both passengers and pilots and it’s great to read that Palma airport have taken steps (with the birds of prey) to try and combat the problem. At Scarecrow Group we supply many airports with bioacoustics technology to deter birds from airports, possibly something for Palma airport to consider?

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