An Air Europa Boeing 737-800 suffered a bird strike while it was climbing out of Paris Orly Airport’s runway 24.
The aircraft was operating flight UX-1026 from Paris Orly Airport (France) to Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport (Spain). Initially, the aircraft continued climbing after the bird strike.
The pilots were handed off to departure and they continued the climb asking for a runway inspection, they weren’t sure whether the bird may have hit their landing gear. The subsequent runway inspection by the airport officials found two dead pigeons on the runway.
Returned back to Paris
When the aircraft was climbing through FL120, the pilots reported engine trouble with the left hand CFM International CFM56. After reporting that the engine was not performing correctly, the crew reduced the engine to idle and returned to Paris Orly.
The aircraft landed safely on Paris Orly runway 25, some 25 minutes after departure. After landing the aircraft was inspected by the officials.
The Air Europa B737 remained on the ground in Paris Orly for around 21 hours before returning to Madrid. The aircraft further remained on the ground for another 22 hours in Madrid before returning back to service.
Aircraft Information:
The Air Europa Boeing 737-800 with registration EC-MXM was delivered to the airline back in July 2018 and is currently 2.1 years old.
The aircraft is powered by two CFM International CFM56 engines. The aircraft is configured in a two-class configuration with 12 seats in business class and 168 seats in economy class.
About the airline:
Air Europa is the third-largest Spanish airline, headquartered in Llucmajor, Mallorca, Spain. The airline has its main hub at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport.
The airline operates long-haul and short-haul flights to over 44 destinations around Spain, Europe, South America, North America, the Caribbean, Morocco, and Tunisia.
As of June 2020, the airline has a fleet of 61 long and short-haul aircraft with an average age of 8.7 years. However, 13 of them are grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic.
