A single bird, likely a pigeon, caused the grounding of an Air Malta aircraft last Friday, after it flew into the left engine of the Airbus A320neo, causing considerable damage.

Air Malta Chief Engineer Stefan Grech holding one of the damaged fan blades. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Speaking to journalists on Monday, Air Malta Chief engineer Stefan Grech said that the aircraft had been ready for take-off and was jetting down the runway. Take-off had to be aborted, however, after the bird strike occurred.

Mr Grech said that the bird likely hit one fan blade and caused a chunk of it to fly off due to the high velocity at which the aircraft was travelling. The broken piece of fan blade continued to rotate in the engine causing a chain reaction of damage. The fan blade fragments broke and dented the other blades and tore through the housing of the left engine.

Of 36 titanium fan blades, 24 were permanently damaged, Mr Grech said.

“When engineers inspected the aircraft they declared that it could not operate its designated flight,” Mr Grech said.

“The process to replace the engine started on Saturday. We’re waiting for a part to come in later today and the aircraft should be ready for operation by tomorrow afternoon.”

Sitting in the hangar was another Air Malta aircraft, which was damaged after a malfunctioning passenger bridge struck the aircraft at Gatwick Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

Air Malta Chairman Charles Mangion and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi observing the aircraft damaged by a passenger bridge. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Mr Grech said that repairs on the struck aircraft were more complex, as it had been hit in a critical area below the floor.

“Access is very difficult, the skin needs to be cut out and have a doubler place on top of it. We had to remove the bathroom compartment and floor panels to inspect the damage and carry out repairs,” he said.

The aircraft with damaged fuselage is expected to be back in service on Wednesday morning.

“It’s still a significant amount of time because everyday without an aircraft is a day with less revenue, but we care for our passengers just the same,” Mr Grech said.

“Safety has always been our priority and when we declare an aircraft unserviceable, it’s because we’ve always made safety our first order.”

Visiting the hangar and observing the ongoing repairs, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said that the national airline had liaised with Airbus to ensure work was carried out to maximum safety standards.

The Minister also noted that the government was looking to invest further in Air Malta’s engineering team, particularly in a bigger hangar that could accommodate more aircraft, with the aim of servicing other airlines.

A spokesman for Air Malta said that expected delays to flights over the weekend were not as disruptive as previously expected. A leased aircraft was brought in to maintain operations.

The spokesman said that throughout the mishap, only one flight had been cancelled and passengers had been successfully rerouted to their destination.