Malta A320 at Athens on Jan 31st 2014, bird strike

An Air Malta Airbus A320-200, registration 9H-AEQ performing flight KM-780 from Malta (Malta) to Athens (Greece), was on final ILS approach to Athens' runway 03L when a bird impacted the aircraft. The crew continued for a safe landing on runway 03L.

The aircraft could not continue the flight to Sofia (Bulgaria). A replacement Airbus A320-200 registration 9H-AEN positioned to Athens and continued the flight to Sofia reaching Sofia with a delay of 6:45 hours.

The airline confirmed a bird strike on approach to Athens followed by a normal landing. According to standard procedures the aircraft needed to be checked out, engineers were flown from Malta to Athens. To minimize disruptions a replacement aircraft was dispatched to Athens to continue the flight.

The incident aircraft was able to position back to Malta 11 hours after landing and resumed service.