Earlier this week, a SAUDIA flight from Jeddah suffered a bird strike on approach into London Heathrow.
Significant damage has occurred as a result of this event, with the aircraft grounded since last Sunday at the time of writing (6/3/24 @ 2000 UK time).
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
SV109 – Jeddah to London…
SAUDIA flight SV109 is a routine scheduled rotation between Jeddah and London Heathrow.
The affected rotation was operated by HZ-AR33.
As per data from Planespotters.net, HZ-AR33 is a 0.6 year old Boeing 787-10 that was delivered to the airline back in September 2023.
Furthermore, of the 787-10 variant, SAUDIA has eight of them in the fleet, of which seven are in active service and one parked, offering an average age of 3.3 years.
SV109 departed Jeddah at 1128 local time on March 3 and proceeded onwards to London.
On approach into Heathrow, the aircraft struck birds, which damaged a section of the left hand wing.
Furthermore, the aircraft continued on for a safe and successful landing, with this completed by 1504 local time the same day.
Significant Damage to the Wing…
The photos above highlight the significant damage caused by the collision with the bird.
A hole in the slat is present followed by blood spattering’s that have come from the bird itself.
HZ-AR33 remains grounded following the incident, accurate to the time of 2000 UK time on 6/3/24.
It is unclear how long it will take to fix the damage subjected to this SAUDIA 787 from Jeddah to London Heathrow.
Overall…
Overall, this bird strike in London was more or less contained to the slat on the left hand wing of the SAUDIA 787, with no injuries reported to passengers.
All eyes will be on when the aircraft will be repaired and re-allowed into commercial service.
Furthermore, this would have caused disruption to flights bound for Jeddah from London Heathrow.
Overall, let’s see what happens next from this.
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