Apparently Atyrau Airport staff have confirmed that they saw the 757 hit the bird(s) so there's no question of a coverup as has been suggested in certain areas. In fairness to Air Astana they brought the newly acquired "spare" 757 in and got all the passengers to Amsterdam.
I've been assured that there will be no interruptions to the schedule and my pint of Murphy's in Schipol airport on Wednesday morning is guaranteed.
Behind_t_s_m all the training captains I've seen were either Dutch or South African?
Edited to add:
BBC monitored news report:
ALERT-KAZAKH-AIRCRAFT
International airliner makes emergency landing in Kazakh west
Text of report by Kazakh Khabar TV on 1 October
Passengers of an Atyrau-Amsterdam flight experienced two desperate hours this morning. One hundred and fifty eight passengers and 11 crew members were on board a Boeing 757.
While taking off from the airport in Atyrau [the administrative centre of western Atyrau Region] at 0714 local time [0514 gmt], the aircraft flew into a flock of seagulls. Several seagulls hit the right engine. The crew decided to return to the airport in line with the rules. However, it had to fly around Atyrau for over two hours to use up excess fuel to reduce the fire risk.
Rescue, fire-fighting and first-aid services were put on alert on land. The aircraft made a safe landing at 0950 [0450 gmt].
Mukhit Kubayev, the executive director of Atyrau international airport, said that the passengers were provided with another aircraft. A special commission was set up today to investigate the case.
Atyrau airport is located in an area exposed to seagulls and other birds. Several emergency situations have been registered there since the beginning of 2004. However, this was the first incident involving birds over the past two years.
[Video shows aircraft, birds]
Source: Khabar Television, Almaty, in Russian 1400 gmt 1 Oct 04
BBC Mon Alert CAU 011004 cb/nb
Last edited by LowNSlow; 2nd Oct 2004 at 05:54.