Another incident for Finnair. An Airbus A350 passenger aircraft operated by the Finnish flag carrier collided with a large bird after it landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Bangkok, Thailand.
The collision occurred on February 17, 2022, after the Finnair Airbus A350-900 jet, registered OH-LWF, arrived from Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport (HEL) in Finland as flight AY141.
As it was reported by the Aviation Herald, the airline said the aircraft collided with a large bird prior to departure as return flight AY1412 to Helsinki.
It is not known what damage the aircraft suffered, but the Aviation Herald added that the aircraft was still on the ground 18 hours later.
It’s the second incident in one day for Finnair. Earlier on February 17, 2022, a Finnair ATR 72-500 turboprop regional airliner was forced to make an emergency landing in Riga, Latvia due to reports of smoke in the cabin, the Latvian State Fire and Rescue Service told Lithuanian media.
That incident occurred when the plane, registered OH-ATI, was operating regular daily flight AY1107 between Helsinki, Finland, and Vilnius, Lithuania. According to data from Flightradar24.com, the plane took off from Helsinki Airport (HEL) at around 11.30 a.m. (UTC) and was scheduled to land at Vilnius International Airport (VNO) an hour and a half later.
However, as the plane neared the Lithuanian border, at a flight altitude of 17,000 ft, it immediately began to descend, and the flight crew turned the aircraft towards the nearest airport to perform an emergency landing.
The pilots landed the turboprop at Riga International Airport (RIX) in Latvia at around 1.10 p.m. (UTC) due to reports of smoke in the plane cabin. A spokesperson for RIX airport Ilze Salna confirmed to the media that after safely landing in Riga, 18 passengers were evacuated from the plane due to safety risks.