On 24th November a Malta Air Boeing 737-800 suffered severe birdstrikes while on final approach to Bologna Airport, Italy.
The five year old aircraft, registration 9H-QDG and performing flight FR1194 on behalf of Ryanair from London Stansted, UK to Bologna, Italy, was on final approach to runway 12 when the aircraft flew through a flock of herons, which impacted the nose, windshield and both wings. A number of herons were ingested by the right hand engine, which subsequently suffered a compressor stall and sputtering streaks of flame. The below video shows the incident.
The aircraft continued for a safe landing on runway 12. Post-flight examination revealed that the left-hand engine had also ingested a number of birds and the external sensor, pitot tube was damaged.
After the incident, the aircraft was grounded for four days; during this time the right engine was removed from the wing. After repairs the aircraft then flew on to Fes Saiss airport in Morocco on Sunday 28th November.
Cover photo from unverified source