Bird Strike Damages Saudia Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner at London-Heathrow

A Saudia Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner was involved in a bird-strike incident on March 3. There are no reports of injuries other than the bird itself.
 

The Incident

Saudia flight SV 109 landed at London Heathrow Airport (LHR). The aircraft performing flight SV109 is a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner with registration HZ-AR33. HZ-AR33 was delivered new to Saudia in September 2023, which means the aircraft is only 6 months old. The flight departed from Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) at 11:28 a.m. local time. There was a delay of approximately 1 hour as it was scheduled to depart at 10:25 local time.

The seemingly uneventful flight lasted around six hours and 18 minutes, and the flight landed at Heathrow Airport at 14:46 GMT local time, 36 minutes behind its scheduled arrival. However, while the aircraft was approaching Heathrow, it was involved in a bird strike, with a bird colliding with the Dreamliner's left wing slat. Reports say that passengers and flight crew were unaware of the incident.

Upon arrival, the aircraft was inspected, and a large hole was found on the leading edge of the left-wing slat. As of March 7, no other damages or human injuries are reported. HZ-AR33 is reportedly parked at LHR since the incident. Saudia is yet to provide a statement regarding this incident.

Previous Incidents at Heathrow Airport

While it is rare for a bird strike to regularly occur at a specific airport, given the large amount of traffic at Heathrow Airport, there have been some previous incidents involving bird strikes. In October 2022, a United Airlines Boeing 767-300ER performing flight UA883 was forced to land with just one engine due to a bird strike on takeoff. There is also a video of a bird getting hit by a Boeing 777 of British Airways on its way to approach at Heathrow, much like this incident.

Bird strikes can also threaten a flight's safety. A famous example is the Miracle of the Hudson when U.S Airways flight 1549 had to ditch in the Hudson River after a total power loss following a bird strike after takeoff at LaGuardia Airport (LGA). To remedy such threats, airport personnel constantly work to ensure a safe flight path throughout the airport by any means, such as using acoustic hailing devices (also known as sound cannons) and shooting blanks to scare birds away. 

Heathrow Airport has also added many black balls, known as bird balls, to keep birds from settling in the path of flight paths. known as sound cannons), and shooting blanks to scare birds away. Heathrow Airport has also added a large number of black balls known as bird balls, to keep birds from settling in the path of flight paths.