FASTJET HIT BY 'UNPRECEDENTED' NUMBER OF BIRD STRIKES

fastjet, which features a large African grey parrot picture on its planes, has had to cancel services following bird strikes.

Low cost airline fastjet reveals "uprecendented" bird strikes after two large birds collided with nose of aircraft and another two hit plane engines.

Low-cost airline carrier fastjet has revealed that its Tanzanian flight services have been thrown into disarray by "unprecedented" bird strikes.

The London-listed company said that it had suffered a total of four "bird strikes" in two weeks, with two large birds colliding with the nose cone of the aircraft and to hitting the aircraft engines fan blades.

As a result of safety checks following the bird incidents, fastjet was unable to source replacement planes which led to a number of flights being delayed and cancelled.

Bird strikes have always been one of the biggest threats to passenger safety, with Orville Wright first reporting a bird aviation incident in 1905.

Bird strikes have become increasingly common in recent years. According to the UK's aviation authority there were 300 cases in 2011-12 involving nearly every major airport in the UK. In two cases pilots were forced to issue MAYDAY calls.

The most spectacular recent bird strike incident took place in New York in 2009 when a US Airways Airbus A320 was forced to ditch into the Hudson River after being hit by a large flock of birds.

The greatest loss of life directly linked to a bird strike was on October 4, 1960, when Eastern Air Lines, a Lockheed L-188 Electra flying from Boston, flew through a flock of common starlings during take off, damaging all four engines. The plane crashed shortly after take-off into Boston harbour, with 62 fatalities out of 72 passengers.

A detailed American study of bird strikes revealed that 49pc take place shortly before landing or shortly after take-off. Another quarter occurs on the runway itself either after landing or before take-off.

Pilots are obliged to report all bird strikes, whether or not the aircraft has sustained serious damage.

The Telegraph