Mozambique: LAM plane u-turns after hitting birds. lands safely in Nacala

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Mozambique: LAM plane u-turns after hitting birds. lands safely in Nacala

11:58 CAT | 20 Sep 2024

Photo: Novidades de Moçambique e do Mundo/Facebook

A Mozambique Airlines (LAM) aircraft halted its flight and returned to the runway after hitting birds on Thursday, while en route to Maputo, in the south of the country, the company announced in a statement.

Flight TM 191, bound for the Mozambican capital, Maputo, was leaving Lichinga, in Niassa province, northern Mozambique, and was forced to return to the runway at Nacala airport, where it had made a stopover, shortly after take-off.

“[The flight] diverted to Nacala, from where, upon departure for Maputo, the aircraft hit birds”, which led to its return to the runway”, reads the statement from the Mozambican flag carrier, consulted by Lusa this Friday.

According to LAM, the plane landed safely at Nacala airport, in northern Mozambique, with all passengers and crew unharmed, and a team of technicians from the company was also sent to assess the condition of the aircraft.

The passengers bound for Maputo were taken to the capital on Thursday night by the aircraft that transported the LAM technicians to Nacala and the remaining passengers, who were heading to the city of Nampula, were accommodated and will continue their journey today, the document states.

The airline also said that due to the aircraft being unavailable in Nacala, flight TM 157, on the Nampula – Maputo route, which had been scheduled for Thursday, has been rescheduled for today, Friday.

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LAM operates 12 destinations in the domestic market, and at a regional level it flies regularly to Johannesburg, Dar-Es-Salaam, Harare, Lusaka, and Cape Town, and Lisbon is the only intercontinental destination.

Between April 2023 and September this year, LAM was managed by the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), which was called in to implement a strategy to revitalize the company after years of operational problems related to a reduced fleet and lack of investment, with a record of some non-fatal incidents, associated by experts with inefficient aircraft maintenance.

The worst accident that LAM has suffered in its entire history occurred in November 2013, when an Embraer, flying the Maputo-Luanda route, crashed in Namibia, causing the death of all 33 occupants.

The Namibian Ministry of Works and Transport, responsible for the investigation at the time, ruled out mechanical failures in its report, concluding that the commander of flight TM-470, Hermínio dos Santos Fernandes, intentionally crashed the aircraft, causing the death of all 33 occupants, including six Portuguese nationals.

Source: Lusa