MC Explains | FlyDubai flight fire case: What happened, how pilot saved the day

Flydubai aircraft fire case

An engine on a FlyDubai flight from Kathmandu to Dubai carrying more than 150 people caught fire shortly after take-off from Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport on April 24. As a result, fire brigades, rescue teams, and medical teams were stationed at TIA.

What happened?

Tribhuvan International Airport was the departure point at 9.20am. The following day, social media was flooded with videos of a plane catching fire in the skies of Nepal.

FlyDubai plane catches fire on takeoff from Kathmandu airport, tries to land, a Twitter user shared a video.

Fly Dubai plane catches fire on takeoff from Kathmandu airport, tries to land pic.twitter.com/jVaawRlwnV

— Spriter (@Spriter99880) April 24, 2023

Preparations were made for an emergency landing of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft at TIA, but the issue was resolved.

A FlyDubai spokesperson on Twitter said that the flight FZ 576 had experienced a bird strike after taking off from Kathmandu.

A Flydubai spokesperson: flydubai flight FZ 576 from Kathmandu Airport (KTM) to Dubai International (DXB) experienced a bird strike during takeoff from Kathmandu.

After following standard procedure, the flight will continue as normal to Dubai and is scheduled to land in DXB, according to Dubai Media Office.

A flydubai spokesperson: flydubai flight FZ 576 from Kathmandu Airport (KTM) to Dubai International (DXB) experienced a bird strike during takeoff from Kathmandu. After following standard procedure the flight will continue as normal to Dubai and is scheduled to land in DXB at… — Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) April 24, 2023

A number of people have asked whether it was safe to continue the flight instead of making an emergency landing on Twitter.

In order to minimise risks, there were several waypoints where this aircraft could have landed. It was a reckless and high risk to continue an onward flight all the way to DXB. Landing at an alternate location would have been much safe, Hunain Dosani tweeted.

There were Many - Many waypoints where this aircraft could have landed - minimising risk. Continuing an onward flight all the way back to DXB was nothing short of high risk and cavalier. It would have been much - Much safer to land at an alternate.

— Hunain Dosani (@HunainD) April 24, 2023

Bird strikes and planes

In recent months, there have been several cases of bird strikes on flights.

Due to a suspected bird strike, the Arsenal women's team's flight from Wolfsburg, Germany, to London suddenly burst into flames on April 24. A takeoff attempt was aborted because no one was injured.

A bird strike forced an American Airlines plane to return to Ohio on Sunday after one of its engines caught fire mid-flight. The video of the plane's engine bursting into flames has gone viral. The incident did not result in any injuries.

After an apparent bird strike caused the engine of an American Airlines flight to catch fire, the pilots turned the plane around shortly after takeoff from Columbus, Ohio, according to a report by Reuters.

Also Read | Fly Dubai flight catches fire after take-off from Kathmandu

It is not uncommon for birds to strike buildings. In addition, they are often reported when the plane is flying at a lower level, usually during takeoff or landing. The problem of bird strikes is still serious, despite the fact that they are rarely fatal, according to a report by Dailyo.

A bird entering an engine or ingestion of engine oil is considered to be the most problematic situation. In most modern aircraft, even if both engines are damaged by a bird strike, the aircraft can return to the nearest airport and land. It is even more dangerous when a plane runs into an entire flock of birds than if one bird strikes the plane, the report added.

Despite the fact that bird strikes rarely result in fatal plane crashes, there are some worrying incidents. It is believed that 35 passengers were killed when pigeons were sucked into both engines during takeoff of an Ethiopian Airlines flight in 1988, as per the report.

It is true that bird strikes result in heavy damage costs for the aviation industry. Airlines suffer an average of 34 bird strikes per day, and the annual damage exceeds $1 billion, according to a survey by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).