A TUI Fly flight from Madeira to Frankfurt, Germany, was aborted this afternoon only minutes after take-off after a bird reportedly flew into one of the plane’s engines. The aircraft left Madeira at 17:55 but was forced to turn back because of the incident, which is known in aviation as a bird strike. It landed safely on the runway at 18:36. This was apparently the second bird strike at Madeira Airport in just two days. Yesterday morning, a Ryanair plane also had a bird sucked into its engine during take-off. That incident was recorded on video by the YouTube channel Madeira Airport Spotting. Bird strikes are collisions between aircraft and birds or other airborne wildlife, and while most cause no damage, they remain a major safety issue and cost the global commercial aviation industry upwards of $1 billion annually.
