CAL plane damaged by bird strike in Philippines

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CAL plane damaged by bird strike in Philippines

2016/08/19 21:00:48

Photo courtesy of Manila Airport staff

Manila, Aug. 19 (CNA) An aircraft belonging to Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) was damaged Friday by a bird strike in the Philippines, the air carrier said.

CAL flight 701 from Taipei was hit by a flock of birds while it was landing at Manila International Airport at around 9:30 a.m., which left a hole in one of its wings, according to Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源), CAL's general manager at the Manila airport.

Although the plane landed successfully, Flight 702 that was scheduled to depart at 10:35 a.m. for Taipei had to be canceled because the aircraft was not allowed to take off again until the damage could be repaired, Chen said.

CAL helped the Flight 702 passengers transfer to other airlines or to CAL Flight 704, which was scheduled to depart in the afternoon, and provided free lunch for them, Chen said.

The parts needed to repair the damaged aircraft were expected to be delivered to Manila Saturday afternoon, he said.

(By Emerson Lim and Y.F. Low)