Ryanair flight from Malaga suffers bird strike at Teesside Airport

A Ryanair flight at Teesside Airport <i>(Image: TVCA)</i>
A Ryanair flight at Teesside Airport (Image: TVCA)
This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.

A Ryanair flight was struck by birds before landing at Teesside Airport sparking a five hour delay for holidaymakers.

The incident took place yesterday (Saturday, April 11) when the FR3374 flight was travelling back from Malaga, in Spain. 

Before the plane touched down near Darlington at 8.17am, Ryanair said the aircraft was hit by a “minor bird strike”. The airline said the plane was able to land normally.

But the incident meant that engineers had to come and inspect the plane, sparking a lengthy delay for those waiting suitcases in hand at the airport terminal. 

The flight, which was actually eight minutes early, was due to fly back out to the Costa del Sol at 8.50am but wasn’t able to get off the ground until 1.59pm. 

This meant passengers were forced to endure a five hours and six minute delay before the FR3374 flight took off. They finally landed in Malaga at 6.04pm local time. 

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Malaga to Teesside (April 11) encountered a minor bird strike. 

“The aircraft landed normally and was inspected by engineers which subsequently delayed the outbound flight. This flight from Teesside to Malaga departed at 1.56pm local time.”

Get involved
with the news

Send your news & photos