Severely damaged Iberia plane makes emergency landing at Madrid-Barajas Airport after bird strike

An Iberia flight from the capital of Spain to Paris had to make an emergency return to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport on Sunday, 3 August, after hitting a large bird a few minutes after take-off. According to sources, no passenger or crew member was harmed, despite extensive damage to the front of the aircraft.

"In accordance with established safety protocols in these situations, the commander requested clearance to return to the airport of origin, where the aircraft landed safely."

The incident happened at around 6.30pm, when the crew of flight IB579 bound for Orly airport informed air traffic control of the impact with a bird, which caused major damage to the front nose cone of the plane, as shown in the images widely shared on social media.

Through its official X profile (formerly Twitter), Controladores Aéreos de España (air traffic controllers in Spain) reported the situation: "The flight deck crew of the flight leaving Madrid-Barajas with destination Paris informed us of an impact with a bird. They requested to make an emergency return to Barajas."

Following the alert, the aviation safety protocol was activated. The flight was given absolute priority to land and was directed to runway 32L, where the airport's emergency services were already deployed. The landing was completed without further incident and firefighters carried out the corresponding technical check of the aircraft.

Iberia scheduled another flight, IB0041, for the passengers of the affected aircraft, which took off from Madrid to Paris at 8pm.

The air traffic controllers' union thanked the crew for their excellent work, which allowed the incident to be resolved without major consequences.