About 140 passengers on board Max Airplane including the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero. have escaped death following a bird aircraft strike hazard at the Aminu Kano International Airport (AKIA), Kano State.

A bird aircraft strike hazard or bird strike is a collision between an airborne animal and a moving aircraft.

The Max Airplane, a Boeing 737 aircraft, with registration number, 5N: BBM, was said to have left Kano for Abuja at 1:21 p.m., but returned about nine minutes later when three engine blades were attacked by birds on take-off.

The attack caused a big bang on the aircraft and cause anxiety to passengers onboard.

It was gathered that the plane immediately made a heavy noise and vibrated in the air.

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The pilot-in-command later informed the passengers about the nature of the incident and returned to the base to disembark the passengers.

Confirming the incident, the Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu, said it was similar to the one that happened on Monday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to Aero Contractors aircraft.

He said that NCAA had immediately called for a meeting with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to deliberate on how such occurrence could be curbed in the future, stressing that bird strikes could cause grave damage to aircraft.

“We are meeting with FAAN and NAMA on this issue of bird strike,” he stated.