British Airways Boeing 777-300ER suffers bird strikes in Nigeria

Last week, a British Airways Boeing 777-300ER suffered a bird strike while landing in Lagos, Nigeria. The multiple impacts led to problems such as a hydraulic leak, causing smoke to emanate from the aircraft’s landing gear. However, the response of emergency services was reportedly rather slow.

The flight in question

British Airways flight BA75 is a scheduled service from its London Heathrow base to Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Nigeria. The British airline operates this flight daily, with a scheduled departure at 11:05 am local time. Arrival in Nigeria’s (and even Africa’s) most populous city is scheduled for just over six and a half hours later at 6:40 p.m. local time.

BA operates this flight using both the -200ER and -300ER variants of the Boeing 777. Another UK carrier Virgin Atlantic competes on the route. Ethiopian Airlines Cargo freight operations are also present along this corridor.

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What happened?

FlightRadar24.com reports that on December 30, flight BA75 took off from London more than an hour late. Take-off from Heathrow runway 27R was at 12:21 p.m. local time, about 86 minutes late. However, the flight managed to make up for good weather en route. Indeed, he landed in Nigeria half an hour late, at 7:10 pm local time, after five hours and 50 minutes in the air.

However, that does not mean that the flight went without incident. According to The Aviation Herald, the plane suffered multiple bird strikes during its landing flare on Lagos’ longest runway, 18R. This resulted in a hydraulic leak. Fortunately, the crew were able to land the aircraft safely and leave the runway as planned.

However, as it taxed from the runway to its stand, the aircraft lost the direction of its front wheel. There was also a problem with the main landing gear, with smoke emanating from it. In addition, the aircraft’s hydraulic system C indicated a zero quantity. This meant he was completely drained of his hydraulic fluid.

Following these problems, the crew chose to stop the aircraft on the taxiway and declared PAN PAN by radio. However, despite repeated attempts to contact, emergency services initially did not respond.

Finally, 11 minutes after landing, two firefighters walked towards the plane with portable extinguishers. They were followed five minutes later by a larger fire engine. It was then determined that the smoke emanating from the landing gear had been caused by hydraulic fluid flowing on the aircraft brakes. Having just landed, these had been very hot.

The plane involved

The aircraft that suffered bird strike was a Boeing 777-300ER, which bears the registration G-STBE. According to Planespotters.net, British Airways took delivery of the aircraft in December 2011. It is part of the 14,777-300ERs in BA’s fleet, alongside 43 examples of the smaller -200ER variant. SeatGuru reports that the 777-300ER has a four-class configuration at British Airways. It consists of 14 first open suites, 56 Club World flat beds, 44 World Traveler Plus seats and 185 standard World Traveler seats.

Following temporary repairs to the plane, FlightRadar24.com reports that the plane left Lagos for London the next morning at 5:03 a.m. local time. The landing at Heathrow was just over five hours late, at 9:59 am G-STBE has not yet returned to service after this flight.

What do you think of this incident? Have you ever been on an airplane that was involved in a bird strike? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.