Malaysian plane struck by birds?

Business Mirror
Monday, 18 April 2011 21:20   Recto Mercene / Reporter

AN apparent bird strike broke the windshield of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH086, forcing it to divert to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), landing at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

No one was reported hurt among the 137 passengers and cockpit crew, including 117 Taiwanese, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap).

The airplane, a B737-800, came from Kota Kinabalu, eastern Malaysia, bound for Kaohsiung, Taiwan, when the pilot reported “a minor collision with an unidentified object.”

Air-traffic controllers reported that Flight MH086 requested to be diverted to the Naia while cruising at about 31,000 feet over the Visayas at a speed of about 500 mph.

“Request to be diverted to Manila due to a cracked window,” the pilot was reported as saying while flying over Puerto Princesa, Palawan, on the way to Kaohsiung.

The pilot did not make it clear whether the strike occurred at 31,000 feet or when he was still at a lower altitude, according to Director General Ramon Gutierrez of the Caap.

However, the latest report obtained by the BusinessMirror from aviation sources said the Malaysian airplane encountered the still-unidentified object while climbing to its assigned altitude while over the airspace of Bangkok, Thailand

It was only when the pilot reached its cruising altitude of 31,000 feet over Palawan that the cockpit window started to break, sources said.

The 137 passengers spent a night at a hotel in Manila, and were visited by Donald Lee, Taiwan’s representative to the Philippines.

Most birds fly below 500 feet, except during migration. When migrating, however, birds often climb to relatively great heights.

Generally, long-distance migrants seem to start out at about 5,000 feet and then progressively climb to around 20,000 feet.

Just like jet planes, the optimum cruise altitude of migrant birds increases as their “fuel” is used up and their weight declines.

“The greatest altitude documented as of the mid-1980s was a Ruppell’s griffon, an African vulture, struck by an airliner at 37,000 feet.”

The highest-flying bird is the bar-headed goose which flies 25,000 feet above the ground.

In the Philippines Capt. Sonny Jose, a former Philippine Airlines A330 pilot said he saw an eagle at 15,000 over Mount Banahaw while flying from Australia to Manila.

He said a B737 usually has a cruising altitude of 41,000 feet and speed of 500 mph.

However, he said the Malaysian plane was probably at a lower altitude when he encountered what could possibly be a migrating bird.

Rey Aguinaldo, Environment and Natural Resources, National Capital Region division chief and project officer of the Las Piñas-Parañaque Bird Sanctuary, said in the Philippines it is common to encounter migratory birds flying from 10,000 and 15,000 feet.

He said ducks and geese are known to fly at altitudes of between 15,000 to 20,000 feet, while eagles, vultures and hawks fly at 25,000 feet.

Reports said the passengers were shaken by the incident but none of them were injured, according to Lee, of the Taiwan Economic Cooperation Office.

One passenger was quoted as saying that during the flight, he felt pain in his ears when the cabin pressure dropped. Shortly after that, he recalled, a crew member broadcast that there had been a minor accident and that the cockpit’s glass had cracks.
 There was great anxiety among the passengers but there was no panic.

Officials at the Naia could not exactly say whether the crack was temporarily repaired by a sealant, for eventual replacement of windshield in Taiwan.

Flight MH086 left the Naia at 4 p.m. on Sunday.