This is the moment a bird flies into a plane engine on takeoff and causes an explosion.
The blast affected a LATAM Airlines plane during takeoff at Afonso Pena International Airport in the city of Sao Jose dos Pinhais in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba located in the Brazilian state of Parana on 14th January.
According to local reports, a bird flew into one of the plane’s engines on takeoff, and the pilot had to abort the takeoff so the passengers could return to the terminal.
In the footage, the engine is seen exploding as flames leap from the wing, and the pilot halts the takeoff and slows down on the runway.
LATAM Airlines Brasil said in a statement: “Flight LA3533 (Curitiba-Brasilia), which was scheduled to take off at 5.55am this Friday (14th January), was interrupted during the takeoff procedure on the runway due to a collision with birds.
“This is a standard aviation safety procedure and LATAM reinforces that we follow the strictest standards, complying with the regulations of Brazilian and international authorities.”
The airline said that all the passengers were transferred to other flights and no injuries were reported.
On 7th January, a similar incident took place during a flight from Lanzarote to Germany.
The Condor airlines flight was departing from Cesar Manrique-Lanzarote Airport on the island of Lanzarote in the Spanish Canary Islands and was destined for the German city of Hamburg.
The Boeing 757-330, with the flight number DE1439, took off from San Bartolome in Lanzarote at 1.58pm and immediately experienced an engine problem.
One passenger filmed the flames leaping from the engine shortly after takeoff. People on the ground also reported seeing the fire and hearing a loud roaring sound.
Enrique Espinosa, manager of the Lanzarote Emergency Services Consortium, told Television Canaria that the incident occurred when a bird flew into the engine.
The pilot on the Condor airlines flight told passengers that they would have to make an unscheduled landing in the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura.
The pilot was ready to return to the departure airport, but was instructed by air traffic control to proceed to Fuerteventura.
Air traffic control said on Twitter that the reason for flying on to Fuerteventura was “probably” due to the longer runway of just over 1 kilometre.
Other sources specified that it may have been due to Fuerteventura having fewer obstacles than Lanzarote, such as mountains in the vicinity around the airport in case the plane needed to turn around again to return to the air.
The flight landed in Fuerteventura without further setback, and all the passengers were transferred to another plane and headed home to Hamburg safely.
