adminA Lufthansa passenger plane made an emergency landing after a massive VULTURE smashed into its nose at 5,000ft.
The plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a massive vulture smashed into its nose at 5 000ft.
Shocking images from the ground show the horrific aftermath of the bird strike and the vulture’s dead body smeared across the front of the plane.
The Lufthansa aircraft was also damaged in the collision and was struck with such force a large dent was left in its nose.
The A320 had set off from Munich and was about to land at Palma airport, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, at midday on Thursday when the collision happened. The bird was reportedly a black vulture with a wingspan of nine feet.
Shocking images show the vulture smashed into the metal of the aircraft with a smear of blood around it.
Its claws stick outwards in a gruesome death pose.
The perished vulture is grimly juxtapositioned next to Lufthansa’s logo of a soaring crane bird.
The captain of the aircraft reportedly had no chance of avoiding the collision but fortunately the crash with the vulture, a protected species, only affected the nose of the plane and did not cause depressurisation.
The incident was reported to the control tower of Palma’s international airport of Son Sant Joan and the Airbus landed without further problems — despite the bird being so big it was embedded in the plane’s fuselage.
As a result of the collision the return flight to Bavaria was cancelled and passengers were put on other flights.
Lufthansa confirmed the incident in a statement to MailOnline Travel, saying the flight “suffered a bird strike while approaching the airport of Palma de Mallorca”.
It added: “Due to the damage, the aircraft needed to remain on Thursday in Palma and was been checked by our technicians. The return flight had to be cancelled and passengers have been rebooked on alternative services.”
The Voltor Negre Foundation, a vulture conservation organisation, regretted the incident and warned of the risk of more incidents like this caused by younger animals who are learning to fly and starting to test their wings. — DailyMail
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo