Caribbean Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing after Bird Strike of its Engine

A Caribbean airlines (CAL) flight BW 662 while enroute from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Guyana to the Piarco International Airport (PIA) in Trinidad was forced to undergo an emergency landing some 9 minutes after after its number one engine on the left side of the plane was struck by what is believed to be a vulture.

The incident occurred two minutes after takeoff at about 3000 feet and resulted in the blades of the engine being bent, and therefore inoperable. The aircraft has been grounded and is undergoing repairs according the Trinidad guardian. A total of 158 persons were onboard the aircraft at the time of the incident, six of whom were crew members. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, registration 9Y-ANU, was commanded by Captain Richard Law and assisted by first officer Michael Abraham.

Vultures were apparently in the vicinity of the CJIA after entrails from livestock were dumped in an area adjacent to the airport.

Bird strikes, also referred as Avian ingestion when sucked into the plane's engine, commonly occur during takeoff and landing. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 90% of such cases therefore occur near an airport.