A Virgin Australia plane heading to Melbourne, Australia, from New Zealand’s Queenstown on Monday evening was diverted south, to Invercargill after the aircraft’s engine caught fire shortly after takeoff.
Flight VA148 took, operated on a Boeing 737-800, took off normally at 5:59 pm on Monday evening. Immediately after takeoff however, one of the engines burst into flames, determining the pilots to sharply turn south instead of west, to Melbourne. The plane emergency landed in Invercargill, about 150 kilometres south of Queensland, where it was met by fire and police departments.
“Within 10 seconds of going airborne, you hear just the loudest ‘bang’, golden lights filling within the cabin and a burst of flames off the right-hand engine. I could see flames shooting out [of the engine] at regular intervals”, Michael Hayward, one of the passengers on board, told ABC radio. “There was an initial worry but it wasn’t long until people realised ‘Ok, it’s under control, so just sit back, relax and whatever happens, happens.’”
According to passenger reports on social media, shortly after the engine burst into flames, the pilot said they had hit “several birds on the way out”. After the incident, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed a “suspected bird strike” was unofficially reported, but said it was “too early for us to comment on the specifics and in the coming days we will work to understand the situation and next steps.”
“At this stage, we believe that it’s highly probable that it was a bird strike”, Queenstown airport CEO Glen Sowry also said on Tuesday, adding that the cause can only be confirmed after the engine is inspected. “If you get a bigger bird that is ingested into an engine, which looks probably what may have occurred on this occasion, then – depending on where in the engine it goes – it can damage critical parts.”
Despite the seemingly alarming situation, aircraft are designed to be able to fly, at least for short distances, and land, with just one engine, so the plane was able to land safely at the airport in Invercargill, with no injuries reported among the 67 passengers and 6 crew members.
According to the CAA, around 4 out of every 10,000 takeoffs and landings are affected by bird strikes. The resulting damage depends on the size of the bird, or the flock, as well as the exact part of the aircraft that is hit. Despite efforts in preventing them, including, in this case, the inspection of the runway 2 minutes before takeoff, they are sometimes unavoidable.
