Khaberni - In an incident described as "strange," a Qantas Australia plane was forced to return twice consecutively after takeoff following a collision with a bird and then a subsequent technical fault, which delayed passengers for more than six hours and astonished the travelers.
According to "People" magazine, the QantasLink Dash 8 aircraft took off on Saturday morning, January 18th, from Adelaide headed to Port Lincoln in South Australia, before it had to return after crossing Spencer Gulf due to a collision with a bird.
Flight number 2581 returned to the runway about an hour after the incident, where one of the passengers, Barry Striebling, explained that the plane could not land in Port Lincoln due to the lack of technical services there, necessitating its return to Adelaide for necessary inspections.
After the aircraft was examined by engineers and cleared to try taking off again, the flight faced another technical issue, represented by a warning signal in the cockpit, alongside a malfunction of one of the electrical generators, prompting the pilot to decide to return a second time.
One of the passengers said that the scene "reminded him of an episode from the Seinfeld show," noting that the aircraft's captain personally apologized to the passengers as they disembarked the plane after the second failed attempt.
The delay disrupted the plans of several passengers, including Imogen Evans, who was en route to a wedding celebration and expressed sadness at the possibility of missing the wedding ceremony of two of her closest friends.
According to reports, the passengers were later placed on an alternative aircraft, which took off at about 2:00 PM, after a delay exceeding six hours, before arriving at Port Lincoln at 2:50 PM.
For its part, Qantas confirmed that the technical malfunction that led to the second return was not related to the bird collision incident, and offered an apology to the travelers for the delay, expressing appreciation for their patience and understanding.
