A Cayman Airways Twin Otter plane has been taken out of service temporarily after suffering a bird strike on Friday morning.
The national flag carrier, in a brief statement issued Friday, said that the incident happened on a flight from Little Cayman.
At approximately 7:50am Friday, Cayman Airways Express flight KX4420 experienced the bird strike after taking off from the Edward Bodden Airfield on Little Cayman en route to the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport (CKIA) on Cayman Brac, according to the airline.
“The occurrence was not evident during the flight, and the aircraft had a normal landing at CKIA. However, while conducting their standard pre-flight safety check of the aircraft while on the ground awaiting their next flight, the pilots confirmed that there was evidence of a bird strike on one of the aircraft’s wings,” the Cayman Airways statement said.
The aircraft has been taken out of service temporarily, awaiting the arrival of a maintenance team from Grand Cayman, it said.
“Passengers travelling to and from the Sister Islands today should expect some delays as a result,” the airline added.
This is the second incident this week of a Cayman Airways aircraft’s wing being damaged.
One of its Boeing 737-8 (formerly known as Max 8) planes sustained “minor damage to a wingtip” upon flight KX104 arriving at Miami International Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
The airline said it is investigating the matter in coordination with its ground-handling company in Miami.
That plane was set to return to service last evening.
The airline also suffered other setbacks over the past week. On Saturday, one of the airline’s jets was temporarily taken out of service after being involved in two emergency landings in three days.
Cayman Airways confirmed that passengers were alerted to a potential issue with the flaps, which create drag to help slow down the aircraft on landing, and were told to assume the brace position as the plane prepared to touch down at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Saturday night.
The same aircraft was involved in a similar incident on Thursday, as it landed in Grand Cayman from Los Angeles.
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