KLM Airbus A330 suffers bird strike departing Amsterdam damaging both engines

Details have emerged of an incident involving a KLM Airbus A330-200 that was damaged after colliding with a flock of birds as it departed from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (AMS). The aircraft made a safe return to the airport where it landed around 27 minutes after take-off and remains on the ground, four days after the incident.

On November 15, 2024, the aircraft involved, one of the carrier’s six-strong fleet of Airbus A330-200s registered PH-AOA was departing Amsterdam as flight KL661 for the ten-hour flight to Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in the US. The aircraft took off from runway 24 at Schiphol around 10:09 local time. However, the crew stopped the climb at 6,000ft (1,829m) around four minutes after take-off and reported to air traffic controllers that the aircraft had struck a flock of birds on departure.

Soos Jozsef / ShutterstockThe crew stated that they were experiencing vibrations from both of the aircraft’s General Electric CF6 engines and would need to return to the airport. However, they requested to remain within the vicinity of the airport in the meantime allowing them time to run through checklists and prepare for the emergency landing.

The aircraft remained off the west coast of the Netherlands while heading north to prepare for the approach back into Schiphol. The plane eventually landed on runway 18R at the airport at 10:36, 27 minutes after it had taken off.  At the time of wiring (now four days after the incident took place), the aircraft remains on the ground in Amsterdam and has not flown since.  

Flightradar24According to data obtained from ch-aviation, the aircraft involved is 19.3 years old and is configured to accommodate 264 passengers in total – 18 in business class,  36 in premium economy, plus 210 in economy class. The aircraft was built by Airbus in Toulouse and was first delivered to KLM in August 2005.

The incident follows a long history of aircraft being involved in bird strikes, with probably the most well-known being US Airways flight 1549 which was forced to carry out a ditching in the Hudson River, New York after hitting a flock of geese as it departed New York-La Guardia Airport (LGA) in January 2009.

Although Captain Chesley Sullenberger was hailed as a hero of that particular flight, his co-pilot Jeff Skiles took much of the credit for the remarkable outcome involving that particular flight. Although Captain Sullenberger retired not long after the incident, Skiles just retired from flying duties in November 2024, bringing the curtain down on an eventful flying career.

RELATED

Southwest Airlines flight struck by gunfire at Dallas Love Field

The post KLM Airbus A330 suffers bird strike departing Amsterdam damaging both engines appeared first on AeroTime.

Go to Source