Thomas Cook Birdstrike???
 

Hi all, does anyone know if a Thomas Cook flight suffered a bird strike around 30th June?

Girlfriend was flying from Bodrum to Gatwick but flight delayed/cancelled for 24 hours. After trying to claim for compensation for delay and loss of premium seat upgrade (paid for), they have replied that the outgoing flight suffered a bird strike and they are not liable for paying compensation. I realise the latest court rulings agree that bird strike is classed as extraordinary event, but do not recall anything in the news about this event and was wondering if they are just using this as an excuse to not pay out.

IIRC bird strikes are reportable incidents, so we have asked for details regarding the AAIB report they made on the off chance they are telling the truth.

Thanks all.

Why would it be in the news, they happen all the time & are not reported to the AAIB.

Indeed not - but an MOR will have been filed with the CAA, so the OP should ask them instead.

Thank you Dave.

That was my thought too. To cancel a flight there must have been damage, or enough suspected damage to warrant an inspection.

If l remember, the European Court ruled that a bird strike was not extraordinary event as they happen all the time.
Think it was ruled sometime last year.

If the bird strike involved a forced return to Gatwick, that ought to be easy enough to find from the flight-tracking websites.

Knowing the exact date would help.

<<but an MOR will have been filed with the CAA>>

Presumably a recent ruling Dave? I don't recall any MORs being filed for bird strikes during my career. Early one morning at Heathrow we had 210 bird strikes in a few minutes!

Not that recent. I suspect the requirement to file a MOR depends on the damage and the outcome.

Here are a few examples from the days when the CAA did publish MOR events:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmf...c6d39dd9ac.jpg

OK Dave thanks for that.

Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 now in force, lays down the list of MORs, which includes wildlife strikes (including birdstrikes). It's now a legal requirement to file an MOR when a birdstrike occurs. Can't remember if that was the case before, when it was CAA regs in the UK.

less than 25% of actual birdstrikes get reported. Presumably because the crew does not know for sure. however the bird does know and leaves its imprint to be seen on the engine, airplane, or runway.

Even when it's suspected as a might-of, the crews have been hesitant to write a maybe in the log without supporting overt evidence.(it takes time to write up a log when you could be off the plane heading to another gig)

I tend to think that the so called "new" reporting requirements mentioned above might only apply when the crew logs actually reflect the word bird or animal