Emirates jet was flying at 280kmph when it collided with flamingo flock

Mumbai: In a major accident, 39 flamingos were killed in a mid-air collision with an Emirates aircraft in Mumbai on Monday. Flight tracker Flightradar24’s data showed that the jet was at 280kmph when the collision occurred. Although it was not known how many passengers were on the flight, an Emirates Boeing 777 in three class configuration has 364 seats.The incident brought back memories of the US Airways’s 2009 accident in which an A320 aircraft lost both its engines after it flew into a flock of migratory Canadian geese, which led to the famous Hudson river ‘ditching’.

Lesser flamingos, the smallest of the species, weigh up to 1.5kg and fly at 40-60kmph when migrating long distances such as the journey, say, from Uran to Kutch in Gujarat, said Mrugank Prabhu, scientist at Bombay Natural History Society.“I saw around 30 decapitated flamingo heads lying over the place between Ghatkopar bus depot and Shreyas Talkies when I got there around 10.30pm,” said Sneh Bagwe, a student of wildlife management who resides in the locality. A few dead birds dangled from electric wires above. Some others lay on the roads, while some even broke through the concrete roof of stalls. Dipali Lokhande, a resident of Pant Nagar, said she heard a loud thud around 8.30pm. “We ran into our chawl to investigate and found a mutilated bird had crashed through the corrugated asbestos roof, leaving a gaping hole. Its headless body was smashed onto the floor, the walls were splattered with blood. It was stinking,” said Lokhande, who added that local police and fire brigade personnel helped them clear the carcass. There was chaos down the street, said Pritesh Modi, a rescuer from NGO Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) who was part of the search and rescue operation. Till Monday night, at least 29 carcasses had been found. As word spread, a crowd gathered at the spot and there was chaos, said Modi, adding that people kept calling out to the volunteers on spotting body parts—a limb here, a beak there, a torn wing elsewhere. “Mutilated parts lay all over,” he said.According to the forest department, the flamingo toll stood at 39. Kirit Somaiya, former MP who visited the site, said one more carcass was found far away and so, the count is 40. “A few birds broke through the concrete ceilings of ground structures, others broke through asbestos roofs,” said Somaiya.In a statement, Emirates said it is cooperating with the authorities and its aircraft was damaged. “...as a result, the return flight EK509 scheduled to depart to Dubai on May 20 was cancelled. All passengers and crew were accommodated overnight, and a replacement aircraft is being arranged for all passengers, and is scheduled to depart Mumbai on May 21 at 9pm, local time,” it said.No statement was issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the civil aviation regulator, and Airports Authority of India, the country’s air navigation provider. An official from the Mumbai airport traffic control said the Emirates pilots reported the bird strike after parking the aircraft at the bay. “During the post landing inspection of the aircraft, pilots found multiple bird strikes all over the aircraft fuselage... Assuming that the aircraft would have hit the birds just before touchdown, we sent a team to inspect the runway for bird carcass, but we didn’t find any,” he added.At Ghatkopar, residents and volunteers continued to find more carcasses on Tuesday morning. “The body parts have been sent for postmortem examinations. The report is expected by Wednesday,” said a forest official. The count of dead birds could be higher as people said stray dogs had scavenged on the flamingos soon after they were hit, said Pawan Sharma, president of RAWW. This incident calls for revaluation of the wildlife management plan, he said. “Crossing of paths can prove disastrous. Considering the path taken by these winged guests, we must rethink tweaking of aircraft trajectory. Neither do we want an aircraft disaster nor do we want birdkill,” he added.Pilots pointed out that the accident occurred when the aircraft was just over 1 minute from touchdown. It’s not possible to change the aircraft trajectory so close to the runway, they said.Flamingos tend to fly in a flock, in a single file, said zoologist Chinmay Joshi. “Considering that many were found with their abdomens ripped open, chances are high that the birds were hit from the rear end of the aircraft,” he said. He said it is not clear why this flock had taken flight at such a height in the Ghatkopar-Vikhroli locality, which is a breeding ground where they usually fly at a low altitude. “The reasons are not too clear, but I have never heard of such a tragedy with flamingos,” he said.“We’re concerned about a repeat. That should not happen,” said Prabhu. “Over a lakh flamingos migrate from Kutch to Thane creek flamingo sanctuary every year. The return trip begins around May-end and extends up to June-July.” Their flight paths cannot be predicted. “The birds’ flight paths and altitude depend on factors such as wind speed, direction, and air pockets in the atmosphere,” he said.

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