Queenstown Airport gives latest update on Virgin Australia bird strike

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VA148 News

Queenstown Airport,Queenstown-Melbourne,Stuart Aggs

Queenstown Airport said it did a bird inspection and found no wildlife on the airfield just “minutes before” a Virgin Australia flight from Queenstown to Melbourne took off but had to make an emergency landing on Monday night after reportedly striking a bird in the air.

Queenstown Airport has given its latest update after a Virgin Australia flight from Queenstown to Melbourne had to divert to Invercargill Airport when a plane engine caught fire.

Virgin’s Chief Operating Officer Stuart Aggs confirmed the incident and said it was likely caused by a bird strike. Queenstown Airport, however, argued it completed an inspection of the runway just “minutes” before the aircraft took off and found no birds. “An inspection was completed minutes before Virgin Australia flight VA148 departed on 17 June and no birds were detected on the airfield at that time.”

“There was initial panic, a few cries but that very quickly kind of dwindled down as passengers kind of reassured one another.”

Queenstown Airport Queenstown-Melbourne Stuart Aggs Bird Strike Virgin Australia

 

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