Bird strike prevents PAL takeoff from Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Philippine Airlines’s 6 a.m. flight to Manila from this city was cancelled Saturday after birds got sucked into one of the plane’s engines.

Celso Bayabos, the local Civil Aviation Authority manager, said PAL’s Airbus PR124 was about to take off when birds flew into its path and got sucked into one of the engines.

He said the engine was damaged as a result and aircraft technicians were to be flown in to fix it.

The stranded passengers were to be accommodated on PAL’s afternoon flight to Manila.

In Cotabato City on September 13, a flock of birds flying above the runway also prompted Cebu Pacific to delay its Cotabato-Manila flight by more than four hours, which affected more than 100 passengers.