Bats In The Works Spark Airbus Scare
The Age
Tuesday December 28, 1993
Sydney Fruit bats caused an emergency on an Ansett flight to Cairns on Boxing Day, prompting the pilot to abandon the first landing attempt.
The jet, an Airbus A320 flight from Brisbane, with 139 passengers, was just 20 metres off the ground and approaching the runway when it flew through the bats just after 8pm.
Immediately afterwards, a red warning light flashed in the cockpit to signify a problem with the landing gear.
An Ansett spokesman said on Monday that the pilot abandoned the landing and flew north to Port Douglas, where he radioed the Ansett base in Melbourne for advice.
He said that although the red warning light was on, the crew was unsure of the landing gear's position because three green lights, which show the wheels are down and locked in position, remained on.
It was decided to declare an emergency and land. The plane touched down safely, about 20 minutes late.
The Ansett spokesman said an inspection showed that electrical wiring attached to the landing gear had snapped, breaking a circuit and causing the warning light to switch on.
The snapped wiring did not affect the safety of the landing gear and there was no danger to passengers, he said. He said it was believed that a bat had struck the wiring and snapped it.
Bird strikes on aircraft are relatively common, but the Ansett spokesman said no one could recall an incident in which fruit bats had been the culprits. Sydney Morning Herald
© 1993 The Age
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