A Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) aircraft interrupted its flight and returned to the runway after hitting birds on Thursday, 19 September, while on its way to Maputo from Lichinga, in Niassa province, with a stopover in Nacala, in the north of the country.
‘Flight TM 191, travelling from Lichinga to the country’s capital, hit birds shortly after take-off, which caused it to return to the runway at Nacala Airport, where it was making a stopover,’ explained the company in a statement.
According to LAM, the plane landed safely with all passengers and crew unharmed, and a team of technicians was also sent to assess the condition of the aircraft.
‘The passengers bound for Maputo were taken to the capital the same night by the aircraft that transported the LAM technicians to Nacala and the remaining passengers, who were heading for the city of Nampula, were accommodated and will continue their journey this Friday (20),’ it added.
LAM’s flight network has 12 destinations on the domestic market. Regionally, it flies regularly to Johannesburg, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Lusaka and Cape Town, while Lisbon has been its only intercontinental destination since 12 December.
The worst accident LAM has suffered in its history was in November 2013, when an Embraer travelling from Maputo to Luanda crashed in Namibia, killing all 33 occupants.
The Namibian Ministry of Works and Transport, responsible for the investigation at the time, ruled out mechanical faults in its report, concluding that the captain of flight TM-470, Hermínio dos Santos Fernandes, intentionally crashed the aircraft.