A GOL Boeing 737 Flight Has Two Separate Bird Strikes

GOL Linhas Aereas flight G3-1521 between Fortaleza and São Paulo had to return to the airport after it suffered not once, but two separate bird strikes. How did this incident take place? Let’s find out.

Two birds, one plane

On Sunday, March 20, the Brazilian carrier GOL Linhas Aereas was operating flight G3-1521 between Fortaleza and São Paulo. The airline used a Boeing 737-800 registration PR-GZU to run the flight, which departed at 7:50 local time.

The flight departed from runway 13 with 179 passengers and six crew members. While taking off, the right engine suffered bird ingestion, as reported by local media.

Due to the bird strike, the crew stopped climbing at around 5,000 ft and decided to return to Fortaleza. The aircraft flew around the city for about an hour and a half before attempting to land.

Nonetheless, while landing at Fortaleza, around 9:18, local time, the aircraft had a second bird strike. The Brazilian authorities did not disclose where the second bird impacted. The crew safely landed the plane, and no one was hurt due to the incidents.

A GOL flight suffered two unrelated bird strikes. Photo: Getty Images.

What happened to the aircraft?

GOL grounded its Boeing 737-800, registration PR-GZU following the incident. The airline then sent another B737-800, registration PR-GUX, to operate the flight between Fortaleza and São Paulo without further issues.

Meanwhile, GOL took PR-GZU out of action for more than a day to check it. The aircraft is back in the skies and has operated 25 flights since the incident in Fortaleza.

Bird strikes are on the rise in Brazil

Bird strikes are one of the most common incidents worldwide. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in the US alone, there are up to 16,000 of these incidents each year. Since the 1990s, bird strikes have had an increase of 888% in this country.

Brazil has also seen an increase in the number of incidents involving aircraft and wildlife, according to a report made by the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA).

Between 2011 and 2020, CENIPA has registered 9,801 bird strikes across Brazil, plus 9,509 additional strikes with wildlife in which the species could not be identified for some reason. Up to 48% of all the wildlife strikes in Brazil are related to birds, according to the investigation.

Unsurprisingly, most bird impacts happened while taking-off or landing (26.8% and 32.7%, respectively), although nearly 10% of all the impacts also took place during the approach.

Bird strikes are a costly affair in Brazil. CENIPA estimates that the direct cost of bird strikes between 2011 and 2020 has been US$58.8 million plus an additional US$17.5 million in indirect costs.

CENIPA states,

“There is a clear difference between the two (direct and indirect costs). In an event where damage has occurred, there is naturally an economic loss to the repair of the equipment, direct and indirect costs, as well as the unavailability of the aircraft. However, it is possible the occurrence of events where there is no damage, but there is a manifest economic loss, for example, a discontinued approach for fauna dispersion on the runway, or a delayed takeoff for runway review or fauna dispersion by airfield staff, where there is fuel consumption and flight hour cost.”

Source: Aeroin.