A Uganda Airlines plane was forced to halt its flight after experiencing a bird strike at Entebbe International Airport on Monday 16th January 2023
According to reports, Flight number UR-710 heading to Johannesburg experienced a bird strike at 4:48pm, shortly after take-off from Entebbe.
However, the plane managed to return and land safely at 6:23pm, after over an hour in Uganda airspace.
In a statement released by Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), on Tuesday the plane was struck by two Barn swallows, a migratory bird species.
“The flight later took-off at 7:53 and returned safely this morning at 0502 hours,” the statement reads partly
The latest incident comes hardly days after another plane —Turkish Airlines flight number 606— was forced to return to the ground after a bird strike during take-off.
The A330, ;however, had to fly around Kampala and Entebbe for over an hour to burn fuel to achieve the right weight for landing.
Entebbe is a wildlife sanctuary that usually experiences bird migrations twice a year (March – May and October – December).
However, UCAA said that it has noted longer stay of some migratory species like the Barn Swallow, possibly due to climate change.
