Air France A320 - bird strike at ATH
 

Air France A320 F-GKXA just returned to ATH after number 1 engine came into contact with a seagul on climb, just after rotation. Large vibrations but a fairly normal climb out except it was straight into a significant mass of cumulus resulting in severe turbulence. Worrying enough for some, but on pretty much one engine it was also thought provoking for those that understood what was going on.

Quick return to ATH (just 15 mins) and all off.

I have to say that the communication by AF staff was superb.

Air France A320 Bird Trike at ATH
 

Flight AF1533 F-GKXA just a short while ago, had a bird strike at ATH. Normal run followed by vibrations just after rotation. Seemingly quite uneventful except for the fact that there was very dense cloud immediately on turn out, providing for significant turbulence which was quite disturbing to the average punter, but nothing short of rather thought provoking to anyone who could tell that the number 1 engine was in trouble.

Immediate return to Athens and normal landing to full airfield emergency cover.

Now, this is just another of those events that are trained for and so my reason for writing is to compliment the AF staff on how they handled the event. They were text book calm and comms from the captain were very good. This is in complete contrast to other airlines I have experienced.

Any further info on this would be interesting also.