Both engines of an Allegiant Air Airbus A320 were damaged during a bird-strike on departure from Phoenix Mesa Gateway airport, the US FAA has disclosed.

The aircraft took off as flight G4693 to Des Moines on 26 January.

But as it rotated from runway 30C, a preliminary notification from the US FAA states that its crew reported “multiple” bird-strikes.

The crew informed a Mesa Gateway tower controller that the aircraft would return to the airport, and was advised to contact Phoenix departure control to conduct the turnback from the aircraft’s instrument flight rules clearance.

Allegiant A320-c-Tomas Del Coro Creative Commons

Source: Tomas Del Coro/Creative Commons

Pilots of the A320, similar to this one, reported multiple bird-strikes on rotation

The aircraft climbed to around 6,000ft and returned to land on runway 30L about 10min later.

According to the FAA notification, a post-flight inspection revealed the aircraft sustained “damage to both engines”.

It identifies the A320 as N257NV, which is fitted with CFM International CFM56 powerplants. Allegiant took delivery of the aircraft from new in 2018.

Meteorological information from Mesa Gateway shows good weather conditions at the time of the incident.

 

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