On August 27, an Austrian Airlines flight between Vienna and New York returned to the Austrian capital due to a bird strike moments after departure.
Incident: Austrian Flight to New York Returns to Vienna Due to Bird Strike…
OE-LAY was the Boeing 767-300ER that was operating Austrian Airlines flight OS87 between Vienna and New York.
As per data from Planespotters.net, the aircraft is 24.8 years old at the time of writing, having originally starting out life with Lauda Air in December 1998.
By May 2001, the aircraft was handed over to Spanair on a lease from the carrier as EC-HVG, before being returned in January 2002.
In March 2003, the jet was then handed over to Lufthansa on a lease from Lauda Air, before returning in February 2004, and then subsequently delivered to Austrian Airlines in July 2005, where the jet has remained since.
OE-LAY departed Vienna at 1654 local time on August 27, and around 10 minutes after departure, the decision was made to return following the bird strike.
The jet then proceeded to make several holds before landing safely back into Vienna not long after that.
For the airframe, it appears the damage was minimal, as the jet was cleared to fly again the next day, and proceeded to operate the same service to New York.
It shows how efficient the turnaround was in ensuring that the Austrian Airlines Boeing 767 could get fixed and back in the air.
This is a developing story. More to follow if more updates come through.
