Air Force plane makes emergency landing after Montijo bird strike

Paul Rees 30 January 2019

AirForceEADS An aeroplane of the Portuguese Air Force made an emergency landing at the Montijo air base after colliding with a bird while taking off.

The incident occurred on Tuesday morning, there are no reports of anyone being hurt.

The aeroplane was inspected after landing and no mechanical damage was reported after the impact.

Environmental groups have criticised the decision to choose Montijo as the location for Lisbon’s overspill airport, due to the impact on the environment, much of which is the ‘Parque Natural do Tejo Internacional,’ special protection zone famed as an area rich in bird life

Birds use the reserve to nest or as a migratory stop-off area. This habitat houses more than 200,000 birds belonging to about 50 species.

Comments

+1 #4 Duncan 2019-02-03 16:21

I'm a retired Airline pilot and have had a number of Bird Strikes.It is not uncommon. When there are large flocks of birds inside the perimeter there are a couple of solutions. Driving around firing a Flare Gun while a recording of a predator blaring blares out of speakers on the Land Rover.All quite agricultural but effective.Military and Commercial aircraft are designed to withstand bird strikes.

-1 #3 Beryl 2019-01-31 14:01

Darcy should watch more BBC Springwatch type programmes and get informed. His countries recycling of Serengeti Wildebeest and Peruvian antelope wildlife films does not educate anyone about Portugal's flora and fauna. Much of the wetland birdlife is passing through - so not have tribal memories from years ago. As 10 million Portuguese do.

-1 #2 MarieF 2019-01-31 08:43

Quoting Darcy: