Fowl play downs Malaga-bound flight

THERE was brief panic on an easyJet flight which was heading from Liverpool’s John Lennon airport to Malaga, as a kamikaze bird careered into the plane, causing a ‘huge bang’ shortly after take-off, causing concerned pilots to divert to London Gatwick in order to ensure passenger safety.

According to the website AeroInside, “the left hand engine ingested a bird” during take off “resulting in a huge bang from the engine and a brief loss of engine power,” although “the engine however fully recovered resulting in all instruments showing normal values.”

Despite the bird apparently having had its goose cooked inside the enormous jet engine, the crew decided to play it safe, and swung the jet around less than an hour into the journey, with the 179 passengers transferred to a replacement plane.

They eventually reached the Costa del Sol around 5 hours behind schedule, while the original airliner was grounded for 24 hours as a full safety check was carried out.

An easyJet spokesperson said: “easyJet can confirm that the captain of flight EZY7179 from Liverpool to Malaga took the decision to divert to London Gatwick as a result of a bird strike on take off.

“The aircraft landed routinely at Gatwick and passengers continued their journey on a replacement aircraft later the same day.

“The safety of its passengers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers’ guidelines.”