Dubai: Over 150 Dubai-bound passengers were stranded for hours at an airport in Sri Lanka on Monday after the plane they had booked encountered a bird strike.
Flydubai flight FZ551 from Colombo had earlier attempted to land at Mattala airport when a bird hit the aircraft. As a result, the return flight from Mattala to Dubai was delayed for more than six hours.
According to a flydubai spokesperson, the delay lasted for six hours and 42 minutes and that a total of 166 passengers were affected.
“We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused to their travel schedules,” the airline said in a statement sent to Gulf News.
According to reports, the plane managed to land at past 7am in Sri Lanka and was cleared to fly at 2.32pm, after engineers were summoned to look into the aircraft.
Flydubai was not able to confirm which part of the plane the bird had collided into.
Bird strikes are considered a major threat to flight safety. It has resulted in damage to aircraft as well as human casualties.
