Senator Abaribe recounts frightening bird strike incident, urges aviation minister to act

DDM News

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has called for urgent attention to bird strike incidents.

His concern follows a terrifying experience during a recent flight from Owerri to Abuja, which ended in an emergency landing, Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) reports.

He explained that the aircraft suffered a bird strike which directly impacted the windscreen, causing visible cracks to form.

According to him, such incidents are becoming too frequent and must be addressed swiftly to avoid future aviation disasters.

The senator said he plans to personally contact the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.

“Festus Keyamo is my friend,” he said. “I think I will call him and ask him tough questions about this.”

He joked, “Will you prefer that I was dead before you take action?” then added, “He’s a handsome guy.”

Abaribe expressed confidence in Keyamo’s commitment, saying, “I’m sure he will take action on this dangerous trend.”

While bird strikes typically affect engines or external parts, this one directly compromised the integrity of the aircraft’s windscreen.

He praised the pilot’s professionalism in handling the emergency, especially given the level of risk involved in continuing the flight.

Initially, the pilot attempted to proceed despite the damaged windscreen but later reconsidered due to safety concerns.

The senator said the pilot feared explosive decompression if the compromised windscreen failed completely during the flight.

Abaribe described visible cracks spreading across the windscreen and said the danger wasn’t immediately obvious to most passengers.

Passengers first noticed something was wrong when the aircraft began descending mid-flight without any official explanation.

Many assumed it was weather-related, such as clouds or turbulence, especially those familiar with the route’s typical flying patterns.

Eventually, the cabin crew informed passengers about the bird strike and explained the flight would be diverted to Warri.

The original destination was Abuja, but the pilot deemed it safer to land at the closer Warri airport instead.

Abaribe commended the flight crew for executing a very smooth emergency landing that didn’t alarm the passengers.

He said most people remained unaware of the serious danger until the aircraft safely touched down and stopped.

After landing, the cockpit door opened, and passengers saw the severely cracked windscreen for the first time.

It was then, Abaribe said, that the full gravity of the situation became clear to everyone on board.

The senator insisted that such incidents must not be ignored and called for more robust preventive measures.

He said airport wildlife management must improve and runways must be regularly checked to prevent bird strike threats.

Abaribe warned that complacency could lead to avoidable tragedies if appropriate steps are not urgently taken.

He noted that his experience, though handled well by the crew, revealed major gaps in aviation safety readiness.

Bird strike incidents, he said, may seem rare, but they carry very high risks when they do occur.

He urged aviation stakeholders to treat this incident as a wake-up call and initiate immediate policy actions.

The senator emphasized that regulatory bodies must enforce stronger compliance and improve emergency response coordination across airports.

As a senior legislator, Abaribe’s account could bring renewed focus to flight safety in the National Assembly.

He hopes his voice will prompt Minister Keyamo and relevant agencies to act decisively on this aviation threat.

For Abaribe and others on that flight, the event remains a chilling reminder of aviation’s fragile safety balance.

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