Flight turns back to Glasgow for emergency landing after bird strike

The flight was heading to Faro airport in Portugal on Saturday before it had to declare a mid-air emergency at around 4pm.

Calum Loudon

9th May 2022

An EasyJet flight was forced to return to Glasgow airport in an emergency landing following a bird strike.

The plane was heading to Faro airport in Portugal at around 4pm on Saturday when the pilot had to abandon the journey.

The Airbus A319 was forced to turn back shortly after take-off from Glasgow Airport and landed safely at around 4.55pm.

No one was injured as a result of the incident and emergency services met the flight as it landed as a “precaution”.

An EasyJet spokesperson said: “EasyJet can confirm that the captain of flight EZY6843 from Glasgow to Faro took the decision to return to Glasgow following a bird strike.

“The aircraft landed normally and was met by emergency services as a precaution only and in line with procedures. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority.

“Unfortunately, as there was no replacement aircraft available to operate the flight to Faro or the return flight EZY6844 from Faro to Glasgow, we provided customers with the option of transferring to another flight for free or receiving a refund if they no longer wished to travel, as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required.

“While this was outside of EasyJet’s control, we apologise for any inconvenience experienced.”