Prop plane bird strike not noticed until after landing

(CNS): Cayman Airways has said that one of their Twin Otter aircraft experienced a bird strike after takeoff from Little Cayman on its way to Cayman Brac this morning, but this was only discovered after the plane had landed safely. The twin-engine, turbo-prop planes, part of CAL’s Express fleet, are used for flights to the smallest island as they can easily handle the short runway at the Edward Bodden Airfield.

The airfield is close to Booby Bird Pond, famous for its wildlife, in particular the large population of red-footed booby birds. This has been used as one of the reasons to build a new airport on the island elsewhere. A fully-certified airport would also allow Cayman Airways to fly a small jet between all three islands.

However, the most common type of bird strike is ingestion, which occurs when a bird is sucked into a jet engine, damaging the engine’s compressor blades and causing the engine to fail.

A release from the airline said that at approximately 7:50am this morning, 16 August, Cayman Airways Express flight KX4420, experienced a bird strike after takeoff from Little Cayman destined to the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport (CKIA) on Cayman Brac.

The occurrence was not evident during the flight, and the aircraft had a normal landing at CKIA. However, while conducting their standard pre-flight safety check of the aircraft while on the ground awaiting their next flight, the pilots confirmed that there was evidence of a bird strike on one of the aircraft’s wings, the release stated. 

The aircraft has been taken out of service temporarily, awaiting the arrival of a maintenance team from Grand Cayman. Passengers travelling to and from the Sister Islands today should expect some delays as a result.